


The Burning

by FandomQueenliness



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien (Miraculous Ladybug) salt, Adrien Agreste is a JERK, Adrien salt, Adultry, Alya is out for blood, Angst, Cheating, Do Not Copy Without Permission Of Author, F/M, Felix is taking no shit today, First of all I would like to say I am sorry, Heartbreak, Kagami is ready to commit a murder, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Angst, Marinette deserves better, Multi, Nino is sad™, Poor Marinette, Problems, They all need hugs, chloe is Ready to fight a bitch, do not copy to another site, so so many problems, wow that's a lot of tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-02-29 23:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18788662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomQueenliness/pseuds/FandomQueenliness
Summary: The day Adrien confessed to cheating on Marinette, their lives burned down around them, and in the ashes, their friends and family must piece together the broken shards of what they once knew.





	1. The Burning

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired both by the Adrien salt tag and Burn/First Burn from Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Be warned, this is pretty damn sad.  
> I own nothing here

(7:30pm)

* * *

 

Adrien nervously walked into his house, quietly closing the front door behind him. It had been a day since the news had hit the public, and a day since he had last entered his home. The rooms were dark, silent. It was late, he had taken his time getting here.  
  
He walked through the rooms quietly, taking in the desolate feel. When he had checked the whole ground floor he walked up the stairs, and open the first two doors, which were his children’s rooms. He had expected them to be asleep, breathing peacefully, but their beds were empty. That was… unsettling, but unsurprising. Marinette was probably too upset to be watching them right now.  
  
He sighed. She was going to blow up, he knew it. But he could explain, he could get her to listen.  
  
Next, he entered his own room, which he shared with Marinette. It was empty and immaculate. Everything was clean, nothing had been touched since he had left the morning before when everything had been fine. But the wardrobe light was left on, and there were four hat boxes lying empty and open on the floor. Adrien stared at them, puzzled, before deciding that Marinette had taken something from them.  
  
He exited the bedroom, staring a moment at their bed from the doorway. Yes, Marinette would be mad, but he could calm her down. He could explain, he had always managed to before.  
  
There was a light under his study door, and he knew that was where his wife was. He did not want this confrontation, but Marinette was all about arguing and fighting. Better to get it over with, let her scream, let her rage. They could get through this, they could save their marriage.  
  
He opened the door, letting it swing open. Marinette was standing in front of the desk, with her back to him, her shoulders straight. In her hands, he caught sight of papers, with more spread out before her on the desk. The fireplace was already roaring, and it cast flickers upon her back.  
  
He mustered up his courage, trying to ignore the tension. Quietly, he murmured, “Marinette.”  
  
“Don’t,” she said softly, not turning around. “Don’t speak.”  
  
Adrien faltered for a second before he pressed on. “Please Marinette, _please_ , just let me explain—”  
  
“Don’t,” she snapped, turning just slightly. He flinched back from her voice. She took a breath and turned back to the desk.  
  
He had to wait in tense silence for a few minutes before she spoke again.  
  
“I treasured every moment we spent together,” Marinette said quietly. “Because, from the moment you gave me your umbrella, I knew I was in love with you. And then, when you kissed me, I knew you were mine, and mine alone.”  
  
He remembered when they were teenagers, and he had learned she was Ladybug, caught up with emotions and love.  
  
But Marinette’s voice was almost emotionless, and it made Adrien.. anxious. This felt different from their other fights. Tentatively he tried to speak, “Mari—”  
  
“You said you were _mine_ ,” she said, cutting him off. Her words were sharp. He saw her fragile shoulders slump slightly. “You said that you were _mine_ , Adrien.”  
  
_Please_ , he wanted to say to her, _let’s just forget it. Let us move on_. But she would not listen yet. He knew she would not.  
  
Marinette turned to look at him with a cold expression. “Do you know what your brother said, when I told him that we were together?” She asked.  
  
He flinched away from that. Marinette knew that he and Felix had a rocky relationship; she was using his words to hurt him. But Felix’s words from earlier were still ringing in his head:  
  
_‘I’m in love with her Adrien, but I let her go, for you.’_  
  
Bitterness rose up in his throat and he pushed the words away.  
  
“No,” Adrien told her, trying to keep his anger under control.  
  
Marinette’s face became stricken, longing, wishing. “When I told him, Felix said, ‘Be careful with Adrien, Mari. He has always gotten his way. He is selfish at heart.’” She shook her head in disgust. “But I ignored him. You were so _kind_ , and gentle, and beautiful. How could you hurt me? So, I fell for you, so, so deeply. You left me senseless, defenseless. You took advantage of my love for you.”  
  
Her harsh expression spiked pain into Adrien’s chest.  
  
“Marinette,” he said, desperation and regret weighing down his voice. “It was a mistake. And I regret it, so much. Please just listen to m—”  
  
“ _Shut up_ ,” she hissed. Her voice echoed through the house and Adrien’s voice fell away into shock.  
  
She turned back to the papers laid out on the desk. He saw they were letters, with wax seals, pressed flowers, ribbons and lace and the darkest ink. They were beautiful and vaguely familiar.  
  
“You used to send me letters,” Marinette said to the air. Her fingers grazed the creamy pages. “A letter every week, for five years. Since we were sixteen.” Her words became bittersweet. “You said such beautiful things. I fell for you all over again whenever you wrote.”  
  
Adrien remembered sending those letters. He had made sure she would love them. He had spent hours poring over love poems, trying to find all the right words for her, to show her how much he loved her.  
  
_But what was she doing with them now?_ Adrien thought, panic creeping in. Breathlessly, he said, “ _Mari—_ ”  
  
“I’m re-reading them,” she interrupted. “Your letters. I’m looking through every single one, re-reading every word you ever wrote me. I’m trying to find every false promise you made. I’m trying to remember when you were mine.”  
  
Adrien tried to speak, but the words died in his throat. This was not like their normal fights, where she raged for a while before cooling down. This time—it was like she didn’t even care. She was being so cold and distant yet at the same time ragefull. Like the sun, burning him alive from a million miles away.  
  
“You cheated on me,” Marinette whispered. The words hung between them, and he couldn’t even deny it. “You cheated for months, with a model you barely knew.” She turned and glared at him, her fire returning slowly. “It wasn’t even about love, it was all about _sex_! You couldn’t even do me the courtesy of making the affair mean something. Do you even know anything about her?”  
  
He didn’t. That model had been pretty, and sweet, and a friend. But she had been convenient all the same.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Adrien murmured weakly.  
  
Marinette shook her head and pulled a piece of paper from the desk, holding it up. It was the transcript of texts he had sent all the largest newspapers in the city. To prove his innocence.  
  
“You published the messages you two shared,” his wife seethed. “Every text describing your affair. Every time you planned to meet up over the last sixteen months. You told _everyone_ how you betrayed me, our marriage, our children, all for a girl you know nothing about! And you only told them to save your reputation from a few lies about drug abuse a jealous model made up.”  
  
She balled up the paper and threw it to the floor between his feet. “By clearing your name of illegal crimes, you have ripped apart our lives. Our _children’s lives_.”  
  
Adrien flinched from the venom in her voice, remembering their children. “Where are they?” he asked quietly. Were they listening right now?  
  
“You want to know?” Marinette shouted, stalking towards him, he only took one step back, and in a moment she was right in front of him.  
  
“Now you care? After months of ignoring them, after months of leaving them with only me while you galivanted around the world with your mistress?” She laughed cruelly. “You don’t deserve to know. You don’t deserve them.”  
  
The words cut deep, bringing forth his own anger. He scowled at her. “ _Marinette_ that is _enough—_ ”  
  
“Do you know what Felix said, when he read you had done?” She said yelled over him. “He called you a fool. A stupid, brainless fool. He sat with me and said that you did not deserve anything I had given you. And he is right. You are a sad little boy who gave up everything because you thought you could win it back without a problem. Who cared more about how his father saw him then about his own children, his own _wife_. Who was so paranoid about what others thought that he gave up everything just for everyone’s stupid, fleeting _approval_.”  
  
That was enough, Adrien decided, fury simmering in his veins. She had had her rant, it was time for her to calm down. And that was enough about _Felix_. “Stop—”  
  
She breathed out and held up a hand that made him pause. “He called you an Icarus,” she told him cuttingly. “He said that in your quest for glory, for approval, you have flown too high. And he is right, Adrien. You have flown to close to the sun, and now you are burning.”  
  
“I had to do this Mari,” Adrien protested, keeping himself under control. Her face became cold and closed off, but he was not deterred. “It was a mistake,” he promised, “a foolish mistake to sleep with her, but I needed to tell everyone. I needed to prove that I was innocent. For us, for our children.” He took a step forward, reached for her.  
  
“Don’t even _think_ of taking another step closer to me,” Marinette hissed, moving away from his outstretched hand.  
  
He stared at her in surprise. She had never moved away from him before. “Mari…”  
  
“I can’t be trusted around you anymore,” she said. The look on her face was pure hatred. “Don’t think you can ever talk me into forgiving you ever again.”  
  
She turned and delicately picked a letter from her pile. She held it up so he could see. It was the one where he proposed to her. His heart twisted.  
  
“I’m burning them,” Marinette said coldly. “All the letters you sent me. You can stand over there and watch if you like.”  
  
No, _NO_.  
  
“Marinette, don’t do this,” Adrien said desperately. “Please, we can work through this.” If she burned those letters there was no going back, things would be changed irrevocably.  
  
She shook her head, looking at him with loathing. “I don’t know who you are anymore.”  
  
“Marinette please,” he said, reaching out a hand for the letter.  
  
She stared him in the eye and tossed it into the fire. Then another letter, and another and another and another and another.  
  
“NO!” He stared as the flames consumed the pages until they were nothing but black curls and crumbling ashes.  
  
He turned his eyes back to her, furious. “How could you do this?” he snarled. How could she throw away their history?  
  
“How could you cheat on me?” she yelled back. Tears welled up in her eyes. “And how could you tell the whole world about it? Was betraying me not enough, did you have to humiliate me too?”  
  
“I had to do it!” He roared back, finally giving in to his rage. “I had to! Mark was threatening to go to the press with claims I was using drugs if I didn’t tell him why I was sneaking away so often. And when I told him, I knew he would blackmail me for it, just like Ketch’s boyfriend. The only thing left to do was to come forward!”  
  
“Oh, and you couldn’t stand the public thinking you weren’t perfect for a single moment,” Marinette scoffed. “You could have simply denied Mark’s claims, done a drug test. But oh no, heaven forbid anyone say a bad word about Adrien Agreste! Someone whispers and you just _have_ to shout your response for everyone to hear.”  
  
She looked down and away, her expression pained. “I know about whispers, Adrien. I know what people say about you and Kagami, and Chloe. But at least I know _they_ would never hurt me by trying anything with you. _They_ , at least, have loyalty.”  
  
Marinette raised her blue eyes to his, simmering with rage. “And I’ve heard about you and all those model girls, those intimate photoshoots that got just a _tad_ out of hand.” A smile appeared on her face, bitter and mocking and overly sweet. “I’m not naïve Adrien. I have seen girls and women around you. Don’t think I don’t see how they fall for your flirting at parties and galas and dinners. I see how their eyes skip over me like I don’t even matter. Because that is how _you_ treat me. I see how you carefully leave me out of conversations at parties with them, how you make sure never to be too close when we’re in public with your _model friends_.” She spat the words out and turned away from him.  
  
The fire seemed to leave her for a moment, and she appeared doll-like; small, fragile, broken. She walked over to the huge window opposite the fireplace, where there was the perfect view of Paris.  
  
“I’m erasing myself from this mess,” she whispered. “I will have no part in this. Let all of Paris wonder how I reacted when you broke my heart.”  
  
The rage had left Adrien in a rush at the words, leaving true, actual fear in its wake. She was not just ranting, this was not some small argument they could set aside tomorrow. This was—this was _real_. And it terrified him.  
  
“Marinette—”  
  
She turned around and her she was an angel of fury and vengeance again, haloed by the roaring fire and the lights of Paris. “No, Adrien you do not get a say in this. Let everyone wonder what I said when I watched our lives burn down around us.” She pointed out the window, to Paris. “The world has no right to know my heart, the newspapers have no place in our house. I’m burning everything, the memories, the pictures, the letters. There is nothing left to redeem you. I’m done dealing with you, we’re done.”  
  
Fear swallowed him whole. “Mari—”  
  
“NO!” She bellowed, scaring him into silence. “You have forfeited all rights to my heart! You have forfeited any place you had in this family. You have thrown our life away, now watch it burn down around you.” She threw more letters into the fire, twisting Adrien’s heart even more. The fire grew, lighting Marinette with a vengeful glow. She was pure rage now, she was overpowering him with her anger alone and he cowered from her.  
  
She pointed now to the portrait of their family on the wall, happy, together, smiling. “And _you_ shall be the one to explain to the children what you have done,” she shouted to him. “ _You_ shall explain the betrayal of this family. _You_ shall explain the pain and heartbreak you have put me through. And they will _hate_ you for it.”  
  
“ _Please_ ,” he gasped, fear tightening his throat. “Please, Mari, give me another chance.”  
  
“No.” she stared at him emotionlessly, without pity.  
  
“ _Please_.”  
  
“No. Never again. Never, ever again.” Her voice was cold resolve and nothing more.  
  
“Marinette, don’t do this to me!”  
  
She stepped forward and he stepped back without thinking, stumbling into the doorway.  
  
“When will you learn,” she raged. “That not everything will end up fine Adrien? That there are consequences? That everyone won’t just forgive you? That when you make mistakes, people get hurt? When will you learn that you are _hurting_ people? Hurting your _friends_ , your _family?_ When will you _learn!?_ ”  
  
Marinette clutched her chest as tears started to fall down her cheeks, her words ringing through in the air. Adrien stared at her in shock, dizzy with surprise and fear. Sobs were racking her body, but she did not look up at him nor wipe away her tears. Slowly, he reached out to touch her, to comfort her. He was still her husband, at least he could do that.  
  
But she raised her bloodshot eyes to his and stopped his hand an inch from her face.  
  
“I hope that you burn,” she whispered brokenly. And in her eyes, he saw that there was no forgiveness.  
  
Adrien fled the room and the house without another word.


	2. The Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix confronts his brother and exposes a secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, this is gonna be angsty

(1:20pm)

* * *

  
Felix was just finishing his coffee when his phone rang. Checking the caller ID, he saw it was Alya. With a swipe, he answered the call.  
  
“Yes?” He said, watching the television in the corner absently.  
  
“Felix,” Alya’s voice shook with anger, immediately snapping his full attention to her.  
  
“What happened? Is someone hurt?” He asked automatically.  
  
“Someone’s going to be,” she growled. “Have you seen the news?”  
  
Felix frowned. “What news?”  
  
“Find a TV, channel 57.”  
  
He stood and found the remote for the television and put it to the channel she mentioned. A woman appeared on the screen.  
  
“And now, the newest news, in a stunning surprise, Adrien Agreste, the face of _Gabriel_ , has come forward in a press conference with news of his affair with a fellow model. The full confession—”  
  
Felix froze, staring as he saw his brother admit, in front of a horde of reporters, that he carried out an affair for sixteen months. Hate burst into existence within him as he raised the phone to his ear. “Is it true?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Felix snarled and stalked out of the café. “I’m going to kill him.”  
  
“You can do that later, Marinette needs you.”  
  
Alya’s words stopped him cold. Marinette, Marinette, Marinette, _Marinette_.  
  
“Is she okay?” The words froze in his throat. Of course not.  
  
“No, and she needs you. Adrien can wait, she needs us right now.”  
  
What had his brother done?  
  
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

* * *

  
Alya greeted him at the door, expression murderous. Behind her the house was silent.

“Where is she?” He asked, skipping formalities. Marinette needed him, she came before everything.

“Upstairs,” Alya answered. “The kids are with her parents. Felix.” She grabbed his arm, stopping him from rushing to Mari. “It’s bad, really bad. I tried talking to her but she’s… I think he broke her.”

Panic and fear and worry seized him. She loved Adrien, she loved him enough to destroy herself over his betrayal, and Felix could not live in a world without her. He ripped his arm from Alya’s grasp. “I…I have to—I need to see her—I _have_ to—”

Alya held up a hand and fixed him with her glare. “Hold on Agreste. I know you love her just as much as I do. But I know you love your brother too, and I am not having you try to justify what he did to Mari—”

“My brother is dead to me,” Felix snapped, hate replacing panic. “He died the minute he broke her heart.” _He broke her he broke her he broke her_.

Alya paused before nodding. “She’s in her room.” Felix stalked up the stairs, fearing what he would find.

* * *

 

Marinette sat on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at the wall. Her beautiful face was tearstained, and in her hands, she fiddled with her wedding ring. Felix’s heart clenched painfully at the sight.

She looked up when they entered, but her blue eyes were dead and lined with silver tears.

“Felix,” She whispered, voice hoarse and low.

“Mari.” He sat down beside her, trying desperately to resist the urge to draw her into his arms. She did not want to be touched, that he could tell from the curve of her shoulders, and her wishes meant more than anything right now.

Alya came over and kneeled before her, gentle and calm. “Hey girl, do you need anything?”

Marinette murmured softly, “A moment with Felix please.”

Alya nodded and brushed a hand across Mari’s pale cheek, sending Felix a worrying glance before leaving the room.

The two sat in silence, Marinette, staring down at her wedding ring, Felix, watching her with a feeling of sickness grasping his body. Guilt. His fault, if only he had known, he could have warned her.

 _Warned her, helped her, saved her._ But hadn’t he tried? Hadn’t he warned her years ago, when she first fell for Adrien and his heart broke for the first time too? _Warned her, helped her, saved her._

Finally, Marinette spoke, her words dead and dull. “Sixteen months.” She looked at him sideways, but with none of her usual mirth. “That was how long he cheated on me. Emma would have just turned two. Hugo wasn’t even born yet.”

Her two children, too young to really understand what was going on. Three and one. His niece and nephew. Adrien had betrayed all of them, had given up the family Felix had always wanted but never could have. It made the anger in his blood burn a little more.

Marinette took a deep, shuddering breath. “Did you know?” Before he could even answer ( _no, never, he would have killed Adrien if he had known_ ) she shook her head. “No, you wouldn’t have. You would have been the first to tell me if you had.

“Felix, how could he do this? I—I thought he loved me.” She shook her head and stared at Adrien’s side of the bed. “You told me he was selfish. When we were fifteen and I told you I loved him. You warned me, and I—I didn’t listen.” Her tears fell faster, and his heart ached at the sight. But he could do nothing to help her, do nothing to soothe the pain. Heartbreak was not an easy thing to bear, betrayal made it worse.

“I hate him,” Marinette whispered. Her voice shook. “He has broken me. I wish I listened to you when I had the chance.”

His throat closed up and he looked away from her teary face. “I wish I had been wrong.” He wished he had never let her go at all, and self-loathing mixed with his anger over Adrien. He took her hands in his and met her gaze determinedly. “He is a fool, Marinette. A heartless, brainless idiot. He deserved nothing you gave him. Do not let him ruin you. Do not let him break you. Make him regret what he has done.”

Marinette nodded, a spark of her old self in her eyes. “I will, I promise I will, but I’m so tired Felix.”

“It’s okay,” he told her through tears. “It’s okay, we’ll deal with this when you’re ready.”

She leaned into him, crying into his chest. Without thinking his arms came up and held her, as if he could still protect her from every hurt there was in the world. But he could not. He had already failed. Once he would have given anything to hold her, but not like this, not when his brother broke her heart.

After a while, she fell into silence, and then sleep. He laid her down upon the bed gently, but it burned his heart to see the tears that still shone on her face.

Adrien would pay.

Felix stood and walked downstairs, Alya met him at the door. “I’ll be back.” He had to see his brother, had to do something about this hate in his veins.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to see Adrien.” He was going to make him face his mistakes.

“No.”

He snapped his eyes to her. “What?”

“I’m seeing him first. Nino, Chloe, Kagami, they are having their turns right now. It’s mine next. You get the last one before Marinette.” She flashed a hateful grin at him. “It will hurt more, and I intend to make him hurt. His brother and his wife will be the final ones to show him just how he fucked up.”

Oh, how Felix wanted to go to Adrien right then and strangle him, but he could not deny that Alya’s plan was horrible and cruel and would cause his brother the most pain. Besides, he was not sure he could trust himself not to kill Adrien right then.

He nodded. “I’ll watch over her.” Just as he had done for years, loving her from a distance as his brother broke her heart.

Alya opened the door. “I’ll text you when it’s over.” She left.

* * *

 

After an hour of pacing around the house, checking on a sleeping Marinette and stewing in his hate, he got a text.

_‘You’ll find Adrien in his office. He's all yours’ – Alya._

He left, grabbing a newspaper with Adrien’s face on it from the dining table while he slipped out of the house.

* * *

 

He found Adrien just where Alya said he’d be, in his office on the top floor of the Gabriel building.

He paused a moment, feeling a growl rise up in his throat as he stood just outside the door. His brother was sitting at his desk, head in his hands. His face looked grave through the glass walls, and yet Felix could not find it in himself to care. In his hand, his gripped the newspaper, Adrien’s face plastered across the front page.

_‘Adrien Agreste has affair, reveals all in press conference.’_

His brother was a bastard and a monster, and he had broken any respect Felix had once had for him. He loved him still, yes, but anything else was gone, replaced with betrayal. He had trusted Adrien to love and cherish Marinette, but he had hurt her in the most despicable way. Betrayal. Betrayal was what drove him forward more than anything.

The floor was empty, it was a Sunday night after all. It was only him and Adrien. Felix was glad for it, he wanted to lose control without witnesses. This was something Adrien alone had earned.

Marinette’s voice from just an hour ago rang through his head, choked with tears:

_He has broken me._

Red filled Felix’s vision and he stepped into the office, only taking a few steps forward before Adrien looked up and melted in relief.

“Felix,” he said softly, standing and moving forward to embrace his brother. “Finally, someone who can understand.”

“Adrien,” Felix replied coldly. He felt rage at his brother’s joyful face, unaware of the pain and conflict he had created. He didn’t care.

Adrien paused, his expression wary. “Felix?”

The older blonde said nothing, taking his last few moments of calm to close the office door before turning back to his brother, jaw tight. “Congratulations,” he said.

“What?” Adrien’s face was puzzled, but he had seen the newspaper in Felix’s hand. “Felix, what are you talking about?”

“Congratulations are in order, aren’t they?” Felix seethed, barely keeping his voice steady. “What an achievement. You’ve managed to create a new kind of stupid. You had an affair and then published everything. You have ruined everything.”

Understanding flashed across his Adrien’s face. He took a step forward. “Felix—”

“This is damage you can never undo, Adrien,” he snapped, beyond caring. “Did you even think this through? Any of it? Did you even think of your family? Your children? Your _wife?_ ”

“Felix you don’t have all the facts,” his brother protested, immediately defensive. He never could stand to have anyone dislike him.

“Really?” Felix asked mockingly. “Well then, why don’t we review?” he opened the newspaper and quoted: _“‘I am guilty of cheating on my wife for sixteen months with a fellow model, while under the threat of blackmail. I come forward now so that I may clear my conscience and my name of false allegations of drug use another co-worker has accused me of.’”_

Felix looked up at his brother, who had paled. “You were under threat of false accusations – which could easily be disproved – and decided to instead publish your _sixteen-month affair_ that no one even knew about.” He shoved the newspaper into Adrien’s chest, forcing him to stumble back.

“You’re so scared of what people think of you,” Felix hissed. He hated this, he hated his brother. “But you don’t see that what you do makes them hate you. You are selfish and inconsiderate and arrogant. All you care about is your image, your perfect views of the world. You think everything is perfect because you cannot stand to see anything that isn’t.”

The younger blonde tried to speak but Felix cut him off. “You want to know why father lets me do what I want, Adrien?” he asked spitefully. “Because I do not let my own selfishness ruin me. I don’t ruin my relationships in an effort to avoid a bad reputation. I don’t dignify every little whisper with a response.” He laughed, letting all his hate bleed into it as he turned for the door. “Congratulations Adrien, you have ruined your life!”

“It was an act of sacrifice to save my career!” Adrien shouted defiantly.

Felix paused, staring at the door. “Sacrifice?” he said softly. “You think you know _sacrifice?_ ”

Adrien tried to backpedal. “I—”

“I stayed at Marinette’s side for years while she pined after you. I watched as you swept her away and took any hope I had away with you.” He turned to look at his brother, seeing his every regret. “I look at you and think: _What have I done with my life? What have I sacrificed for you? What has it gotten me?_ ” He took a deep breath. “But that does not erase the years, and I’m back in the city. And I know what I am here to do.” He growled, “I am not here for you.”

Adrien expression was confused as he reached out a hand. Felix ignored it, feeling all his rage and anger reaching its boiling point, ten years of regret and heartbreak reaching a climax.

“I know Marinette like I know my own mind,” he said quietly, voice growing with every word. “I have been her friend for thirteen years. You will never find anyone who is as trusting or as kind as her.” He looked his brother in the eyes, a tear falling from his own. “And twelve years ago, she told me she loved you. Even then. But I knew you, I knew you were selfish and ignorant and a fool. I warned her, yet she was so in love, she would not listen. I was worried you would hurt her, but I stood by, I watched her fall for you. Do you know why?” he hissed.

Adrien shook his head, fear flashing across his face.

“I love Marinette more than anything in this life!” Felix roared. “I will choose her happiness and safety and sanity over mine, _every single time!_ ” He pointed a finger at Adrien in loathing. “And being in love with you made her happy, so I let her go, even though I knew you could hurt her. But I trusted you to at least love her, to cherish her, to protect her, and you did none of those things. You didn’t just hurt her, you broke her! _You_ failed her, _I_ failed her.”

His brother’s face was shocked and horrified. “You—you loved her?”

The older blonde shook his head. “No, I _love_ her, Adrien. And I thought you did too.”

Adrien’s expression grew cold and hard. “You wouldn’t understand. My career was on the line. Everything was in danger.” Felix snapped. He grabbed the lapels of Adrien’s suit and pulled him close, anger buzzing in his ears. “Marinette is the best part of our lives!” he yelled, tears welling up in his eyes. “She gave you a home, a family, she gave you love. So never forget you were blessed with the best wife and you threw it all away!”

He dropped Adrien and stared at him in disgust. “Congratulations Adrien! You broke Marinette’s heart. You saved your career but betrayed your wife.” He wiped away his tears and straightened his clothes, glaring down at the monster sprawled at his feet. “You disgust me.”

He turned to the door and stood there, watching as Adrien got to his feet without any guilt. He had broken Mari’s heart, hadn’t even cared enough to let her know in advance. Felix could not summon enough familial love for remorse.

Adrien looked him in the eyes, and he saw real regret in them, but not enough. It would never be enough.

“I never meant to hurt anyone,” Adrien said softly. “But I had to Felix, I just had t—”

Felix turned and punched him in the jaw, feeling satisfaction even as his hand throbbed. Adrien fell against the desk, using it to support himself as he stared at him in shock.

“I’m in love with her Adrien, but I let her go, for you,” Felix told him bitterly. “And I will always regret it.”

He turned and walked out of the office silently, wishing with all his heart he could turn back the clocks, and undo what had been done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, I'm crying, this is fine.


	3. The Breaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien confesses a secret, and his closest friends can only watch as he burns everything to the ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This right here is a short look at Nino, Chloe, and Kagami.

(11:30am)

* * *

 

Nino was absently listening to the television while he brushed his teeth at the kitchen sink, wondering what kind of snack he should get on his way to work.

“Hey babe?” He yelled around his toothbrush.

Alya looked up from her files. “Yeah?”

“Blueberry or chocolate muffin?”

She laughed at him and he beamed. He loved her, and sometimes he couldn’t believe he had gotten to marry her.

“Banana,” she said decidedly. “Much healthier than chocolate, and it won’t make your teeth purple.”

“This is why I married you,” Nino told her. She smiled, shook her head, and turned back to her files, spread out on the couch. The TV turned to the news. Adrien appeared in front of a group of reporters.

“Al,” he said. She looked up and he pointed to the TV. “Adrien’s on the news. What do you think, new  _Gabriel_  line?”

Alya didn’t answer, just frowned and turned the volume up. Nino frowned too. She had an eye for things he didn’t, and he didn’t like the look she had on her face.

“Mr. Agreste!” One reporter called out on screen. “Can you tell us why you have called this conference?”

“Certainly,” Adrien said into the microphones clustered in front of him. “I am here today for one simple reason; to come clean.”

Nino stopped brushing his teeth and stared at the screen in confusion. What on earth would his best friend have to come clean about?

“This story starts with a fellow model,” Adrien said, his voice controlled. “A co-worker of mine, Mark Sandler, expressed confusion a few weeks ago as to why I was disappearing often, why I was more tired than usual. Why I was taking more jobs abroad. He came to a conclusion; that I was doing drugs.”

A murmur ran through the crowd. Nino stared in shock. Adrien? Drugs?  _Adrien?_

“Monsieur Sandler was wrong,” Adrien announced calmly. “I was not doing drugs of any kind. But I was, however, engaging in an affair with another fellow model, Sophia Ketch.”

The toothbrush fell from Nino’s hand. Alya stood up.  _How… how could he do this?_  On the screen, Adrien steamed rolled on determinedly.

“The affair started sixteen months ago, during a modelling shoot in the Greek isles. Ketch and I were already friends, but, as the trip dragged on, we grew closer. Everything was fine, until one night. When, while under the influence of alcohol, we slept together.”

 _Oh god, oh god, oh god._  Nino’s head was reeling, and he stumbled back from the screen, staring in horror. He loved Adrien, but this, this—he didn’t understand.

“I was ashamed,” Adrien said truthfully. “I regretted it, so very much. I asked Ketch to never to talk of it again. I made it clear that nothing would ever happen between us. We went back to normal for the next few days. We were cordial, and nothing more.”

Adrien took a breath and rubbed his face. Nino pitied him for a moment before he remembered what he was saying. Betrayal, even once, it was despicable.

“But then, just a few days later, we slept together again,” the model said on screen. Nino’s breath hitched.  _Again. Twice. And not even drunk._

“I can’t explain why; I was tired, I was stressed. But somehow, we decided that we would enjoy each other, at least until the trip ended. After, we would never speak of it again.”

“Marinette,” Alya whispered. Worry rose up and nearly choked Nino. Marinette, Marinette, what would she say?  Did she know?

“Alya,” Nino said. She turned. He saw the accusations in her eyes.  _Did you know?_

He shook his head.  _No, I swear._  “What are we going to do?”

Alya fumbled for her phone, hands shaking with rage. “I have to tell Marinette—god is she going to be okay? Nino, Nino is she going to be okay?”

He didn’t know. He had known her since they had been children, but he didn’t know. How would she react?

Something in him was snapping, like a branch under pressure. As Adrien spoke, Nino felt some part of his love for him—break.

“Alya.” Tears welled up in his eyes and she came over to take his hands in hers. How could he claim to have known Adrien when he had lied to him for months? Lied to Marinette?

Alya saw his pain and shook her head helplessly. “Nino, Nino I know, I never thought he would—” she fell into silence for a moment, staring at the screen. “We need to find Marinette.”

Nino wiped away his tears and nodded, drawing himself up, bricking away that sore betrayal and broken trust. Marinette would be hurting more than he would. Her husband, his best friend.

“Let’s go,” he murmured, tearing his eyes away from the screen, from the friend he thought he could trust.

“Nino, are you sure you can do this?” Alya’s eyes were soft but unforgiving. “If you dare try to excuse what he’s done—”

“How could you say that?” he shot back. “Marinette has been my friend since childhood. I love her like my own blood. Adrien—” pain, raw, horrible hurtful pain “—he, he’s nothing now. To me. I feel—nothing.”

Alya shook her head. “That’s not true. You feel hurt, you feel betrayed.”

“I—I thought I knew him.” But had he? Had he ever realised how blind his friend was to the hurts of others? “Alya, he’s my best friend. I should have known.”

Nino turned to the screen. He could barely see the boy he met at fourteen. There was only a liar. Drunkenness could  _maybe_  excuse the first betrayal, but nothing,  _nothing_ , could justify a second one or the lying.

“Alya,” Nino said softly, staring at his once friend speak. “Let’s find Mari.”

“Then what?” She asked.

Nino turned away from the TV, “After I make sure she is okay, I am going to Adrien, and I am making sure he realises what he has done.”

* * *

Kagami dropped her sabre in shock as she stared at the television. She had walked into the parlour room, still sweaty from fencing practice, and paused when she saw Adrien. But when he started speaking, her curiosity turned to loathing.

“I got an email after the trip,” the model said, his face closed off. “From Ketch’s ex-boyfriend, Thomas Jones. He told me he had proof – texts, recorded calls – that I had slept with her, and that unless I paid him, he would tell everyone.”

Kagami felt anger rising up but she squashed it down. Rage clashed with all the lessons her mother had taught her. She had to get all the facts first—but Marinette—don’t make rash decisions—but  _Marinette_.

How could she stand there, numb, while her dear friend was inevitably hurting somewhere, just now learning of Adrien’s betrayal? Kagami knew him, she knew he was too much of a coward to face Marinette himself with the news. She knew this would be the first Marinette would be hearing of this. The urge to run him through with her sabre grew harder to ignore.

Adrien continued speaking, oblivious to Kagami’s internal conflict. “He was obsessed with Ketch and had tapped her phone. In doing so, he had discovered evidence of our short affair. He ordered me to pay. I wanted to refuse, to tell him I would do no such thing. But I did not want to hurt my wife.”

Kagami scoffed at that. She knew he only cared for how his reputation would have been hurt by an affair. And now here he was, revealing everything because he had decided that an affair mattered less than false drug charges.

“I knew if my wife learned of my mistake,” Adrien said. “She would be devastated. I was ashamed, so I agreed to pay Ketch’s ex, and sent the first installment of money that day.”

Liar, bastard. He did not truly understand the depth of what he had done. If he knew, he would not be grovelling for forgiveness on a screen, he would—should—be begging Marinette for it.

“When I met Jones for the first time, at his apartment, he warned the evidence he had would be released automatically if anything happened to him. It was blackmail, but I went along with it.”

Blackmail—Blackmail, if he had cared for Marinette at all, he would have told her the minute he realised what he had done the first night and never would have gotten into this mess. Kagami’s hands tightened into fists at his face, so clearly begging acceptance from the public. All he cared about, not his wonderful wife, not his family, not the trust that he had broken in Kagami, but his reputation. His image.

“Ketch found me after the first meeting and told me Jones did not care if we continued seeing each other. And well, to me it meant nothing, I was already paying for my mistake. So I agreed, we would continue our affair.” Adrien’s voice was mournful, but she knew it was all part of that perfect act he had created, his way of keeping up the image his father had built for him as a model. The image Adrien grew into. Kagami’s fingers twitched.

“In the following weeks we just… continued on with our lives. It was only sex, there was no love between us. Even as I drowned in my guilt, I continued to meet with Ketch for our rendezvous.” The reports hurriedly wrote that down.

Her fury jackhammered and her hand found her sabre again. She found her grip and clenched on tight, battling the urge to lash out in rage. Marinette was all she could see, her face as she learned of yet another betrayal, another set of lies her husband had told.

“I was disgusted with myself,” Adrien said. “I was betraying my marriage vows. And there was no excuse for that. But as I held no love for Ketch, I could rest easy knowing my wife held my affections alone. Ketch knew this and did not once asked for more than my company and body. We conducted it during shoots abroad, with discretion. Using motels, her own apartment, and my house when my wife and children were on trips. Five days out of seven we were engaging in our affair. Though there was never a feeling of love for her.”

Kagami growled at Adrien’s words, red filled her vision but she beat it back.  _Just wait, wait until he’s in front of you and then you can make him feel the pain he’s caused,_ she told herself.

A maid appeared, pale and wide-eyed. “Mademoiselle Tsurugi? Are you well?”

Kagami had just enough of control to nod once, never taking her eyes off the screen. “Sarah, please bring a car around. I will be making a few visits today. And please ensure there is a tablet inside, set to the news channel.”

The poor maid nodded fearfully at the fire in her eyes. “Yes, ma’am.” She disappeared.

Kagami stared at Adrien, sitting there calmly as if he had not destroyed everything. She looked at him and felt nothing. Nothing of the friendship that might have been there. It had broken apart the moment he revealed the truth.

She would go Marinette, she would check on her, comfort her if need be, and then she would go to Adrien and let loose all the loathing that was growing in her bones.

She walked to her room, removing her practice gear and throwing on whatever outfit she saw first, too blinded by revulsion to care. She left her sabre behind. Though she wished she could impale Adrien with it, she knew he would not let her near to him with it in her hands. He had enough common sense enough to realise that.

Kagami stalked back into the parlour, glaring at Adrien as he calmly sipped water. Were the other’s watching? Most likely. She was eager to see who else would be joining her in punishing Adrien.

The maid reappeared. “The car is ready mademoiselle.”

“Merci,” Kagami said coldly, stalking out the door with a mission on her mind:

_1\. Check on Marinette_

_2\. Make Adrien pay_

* * *

Chloe dropped her tea cup into its saucer and stared.

She stared in horror and confusion and shock as her oldest friend confessed to the most horrible thing she could ever imagine.

_Oh god… Marinette._

An affair, lying, blackmail. He had done the one thing Chloe had prayed he would never do, hurt Marinette.

“Of all the things…” she whispered aloud, her own voice so weighed down by betrayal and pain she barely recognised it.

Chloe was not blind to Adrien’s faults, but she had done such horrible things in her youth, so really, who was she to call him out on it? But Marinette. Hurting Marinette was crossing a line, and Chloe was not above taking sides.

She stood up, moving closer to the screen, staring at her friend as he kept talking, feeling a little bit of her faith in him breaking away with every word.

“I felt horrible.” His face did not seem all the guilt-ridden. “I was being manipulated, blackmailed, extorted. But I knew that if I wanted to protect my wife, I had to continue to pay Jones. Everything I was doing, was for my family, my children.”

Rage exploded behind Chloe’s eyes and suddenly she was glaring at Adrien, glaring at him and hating him. He didn’t care about Emma and Hugo, or even Marinette, all he cared about was his image. Even now, he is driven by how people see him, to see him as the good little boy so they’ll like him. In the hopes his father will care. So he can get what he wants.

“Sabrina.” The woman walked into the room at Chloe’s call, holding a phone in her hands with the exact same interview playing on its screen. Sabrina’s green eyes were round and shocked.

“Chloe,” she asked softly. “Are you okay?”

The blonde shook her head. “No, but I don’t matter right now. Get a car ready. I’m going to Marinette.”

Sabrina nodded firmly and typed something into her phone. “Anything else?” Her words were confident now, no longer the shy girl Chloe had hurt as a teenager.

“I need a moment to… think,” Chloe said.

Sabrina nodded, then came over and hugged her. “Give him hell,” she whispered. Chloe knew she meant Adrien. She was Marinette’s friend too.

“I will,” Chloe promised.

Sabrina pulled away and check her phone. “The car will be ready in a few minutes. I’ll go see if I can speed it up.” She paused at the door. “Do you want me to call Mademoiselle Marina?”

Chloe shook her head. “No, thank you.” She did not want her girlfriend to be part of this. Things would be getting personal, and sweet Marina had no place in it. “Thank you, Sabrina.”

Her friend nodded and left.

Chloe steeled herself and then turned back to the television.

“It was a few weeks ago that a fellow model, Mark Sanders, grew suspicious of my behaviour,” Adrien said, voice tired and drawn, but still, still begging for forgiveness from the press. “My disappearances, how I took more trips abroad, how I was looking haggard and tired. He jumped to the conclusion that I was using drugs. When he confronted me, I was so tired of lying that I just told him the truth. The affair, the blackmail, everything. He backed off, for a time.”

Pain, pain and hurt and betrayal, that was all Chloe could feel when she looked at Adrien. Love, yes, but it felt broken somehow, tainted, changed. Once she may have taken his side, but now, now she had Emma and Hugo to think of, seeing their father confess he had betrayed their mother. And then there was Marinette, who had somehow forgiven Chloe for what she had done, who had become a friend to her despite it all. She had them to think about, and Adrien had become someone who hurt them. She would hurt him back.

“I knew Sanders would start blackmailing me as well,” Adrien announced. “He had always been a rival for my position as the face of the company, and I knew he would do anything to take it from me or make my life miserable. So, I decided to stop my affair with Ketch, stopped paying Jones, and organised this conference to come forward.” He stared right into the camera, Chloe met his eyes and desperately tried to see the boy she had known once. That boy slipped away, and she saw the face of the man who broke apart a friendship and a family in the name of his reputation.

“Have you told you wife yet?” A reporter hollered from the crowd. That got the other journalists hyped up. The pushed forward like sharks in a frenzy.

Adrien hesitated and for the first time since the conference began the press agent beside him leaned and whispered something into his ear.

“No comment at this time,” Adrien told them. That only got hoard more interested at the started hurling questions at him.

“I am tired of being controlled in the shadows,” Adrien said over their shouts. “I am coming forward, making my mistakes public, so I may face judgment in the light. Thank you for your time.” He stood and walked out of the room, blocked from the press by guards. Chloe watched him leave with revulsion.

He would regret what he had done.

“The car’s ready,” Sabrina announced at the door.

“Thank you,” Chloe told her, stepping out of her room at the hotel and walking down to the elevator.

Adrien and hurt more than his family. He had hurt Nino, and Alya, and Kagami and Chloe. Felix would be seething too. An old part of her cruel-self smiled to imagine what hell they would be able to rain down on Adrien together.

Adrien was no longer dealing with his friends.

He was dealing with the people he had hurt.

And that meant Chloe would not be holding back when she came for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Adrien is not coming out of this unscathed


	4. The Breaking Part 2: Chloe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe confronts Adrien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this was seriously hard to write

(11:50am)

* * *

 

Chloe arrived at Marinette’s house first, jumping out of the limo before her chauffeur had even finished parking. Worry was clogging up her throat and making it hard to breathe, destroying everything else.

“Wait for me,” she snapped to the driver, not even looking at him before she was running for the house. In seconds she was at the front door, poised to knock when she heard her name being called. She turned to see Kagami, Alya, and Nino each stepping out of their cars.

Some part of Chloe was glad to see the fire in their eyes. Adrien would hurt, she was sure of it. They would make sure of it. No words were necessary, all it took was one glance between them and they knew they were in this together.

“I haven’t knocked yet,” she told them. Kagami nodded to her, hands curled into fists, expression stony.

Alya ignored them and hurried up the stairs, panic written across her face. “Marinette!” She pounded on the door frantically. “Marinette let us in!”

“Alya, your key,” reminded Nino. His eyes were red and puffy. Chloe knew her eyes were similar. They loved Adrien the most, they felt the most betrayed. She touched his arm and he looked to her brokenly.

“We’ll make him pay,” she told him fiercely.

His face hardened. “You’re damn right we will.”

Alya pulled out her key just as the door opened. They all froze, staring at Marinette, standing before them in her pyjamas, her blue eyes flooded with tears.

Her face pale, expression lost, and heartbroken, and angry, and desperate all at once. It was like a knife right to Chloe’s gut.

“He lied,” she whispered, her only greeting.

The four of them just stared at her in fear, suddenly unsure what to say. What could they say after all, that they understood? Even Chloe’s hurt was nothing compared to Marinette’s.

“We know,” Kagami replied softly, eyes pained. “We do not stand with him.”

Marinette nodded. Suddenly she spasmed and clutched at her chest, sobs racking her body, tearing her voice apart.  _Heartbreak_  is what flashed through Chloe’s mind before the anxiety set in.

Alya darted forward, catching Marinette in her arms and hugging her closely. “We’re here girl,” she murmured, “we’re here.”

Marinette clutched at her best friend, sobbing into her shoulder. “He lied, he lied to me Alya. He promised he would love me, he promised he would never do anything to hurt this family, and he… and he—he—” she broke down again, such heart-wrenching sobs that Nino looked away, his own eyes welling up.

“Marinette,” Kagami asked quietly, “where are Emma and Hugo?” Chloe startled. She had forgotten them. Were they scared, worried for their mother? God knew Chloe was.

“They’re in my room,” Marinette whispered brokenly. “We were sleeping in, they slept with me last night. We were talking about having a picnic when Adrien came home. Th—the news came on and they didn’t understand why I was crying.” Her breath hitched. “They kept asking me questions, but I couldn’t—I couldn’t look at them. All I could see was Adrien holding that woman, lying to me.” She took a deep breath. “I told them to wait on my bed until my parents came to pick them up. I called them…”

Chloe pressed a hand to her mouth and looked away from her friend’s lost expression, so blank yet devastated at the same time. Her kids didn’t even understand. Hugo was only just learning to talk, and his family was falling apart.

Nino touched Mari’s arm. “I’m going to get them, okay Mari?”

She just stared at him with wide blue eyes from over Alya’s shoulder. “I can’t explain what he did to them Nino,” she whispered. “How can I tell them that their father is a liar and a bastard?”

“You don’t,” Kagami said, voice firm. “You let him break their faith in him. He should be the one to see their trust drain away when he tells them he hurt you.”

Marinette nodded and straightened, but her face was still pale and tearstained. “My parents will be here in five minutes. Nino…” she trailed off and new tears spilled from her eyes. “Thank you.”

Chloe knew there was more behind that thank you. More than thanks for getting her kids. It was:  _Thank you for standing by me, thank you for being here when I know you still love Adrien._

Marinette met Chloe gaze and reach out a hand. Chloe took it, tearing up too. They would deal with this, they had each other.

“I’m going to…” Marinette stared at the stairs. “I’ll get them. I need to see my children.”

Nino took her hand gently. “They’ll be okay, Nette.”

She just shook her head. “I don’t know if any of us will be okay.”

She walked up the stairs alone, the four friends watched them go.

Once they were out of sight Kagami turned and stalked for the door. “I am going to kill that filthy—”

“Wait.” Alya held a hand up. A hateful glimmer appeared in her eye. “We all want to hurt Adrien, right?”

Kagami, Nino and Chloe looked to each other, then to Alya and nodded.

The other woman smiled cruelly. “Well, let’s not rush into this. He lied to Marinette for sixteen months, why not make his suffering last a while?”

Chloe hesitated. The offer was tempting, but could she stand to hurt her friend in the way Alya was planning?

Marinette’s tearful face flashed before her eyes and she knew the answer was yes.

“What do you have in mind?” Kagami asked.

“We hit him where he hurts,” Alya told them. “Make sure that everyone he holds dear drives home every mistake he has made. Tell him every fault he has. Tell him just how much we hate him now. I think Chloe would be great to start us off.”

“Me?” To hurt Adrien was one thing, to start of the crusade was another.

“Think about it, his oldest friend being the first to come and show him just how badly he fucked up.” Alya’s eyes flashed. “Then Kagami to cut off any hope for forgiveness with a little bit of violence thrown in, followed by Nino to finish off his friendships. I’ll have my turn next, and I’ll make sure Felix will be there to hit him just before Marinette. Poetic, isn’t it?”

“Are you sure Alya?” Nino’s voice hitched just a bit.

Kagami flashed a glare at him. “Nothing will ever be enough punishment for what he has done to her. You saw her, she’s heartbroken.”

Nino hesitated then nodded slowly. “Okay,” he whispered.

Alya touched his arm briefly before locking eyes with Chloe. “You’re up first. Are you sure you can do this?”

Chloe looked down at her hands, clutched in front of her. On one wrist she wore the handmade bracelet Marinette had given her as a birthday present, the other was bare.

She looked to Alya and tilted her chin up. “Yes.”

“You three go to the  _Gabriel_  building, I’m going to stay here with Marinette.” Alya’s eyes froze over. “Make him hurt.”

Chloe felt her old self – her cruel self – slip up from the bottom of her heart, from that hidden chamber she had locked it up in. But instead of being fuelled by hate and insecurity her cruelty had Marinette’s tears to avenge. Her lips curled into a smile.

“With pleasure.”

* * *

Adrien stared down at his phone and winced from all the calls and texts he was getting. In the wake of his confession, it had been blowing up.

     **Alix: _You’re a dead man Agreste_**

**Mylene: _How could you hurt Marinette like this!?_**

**Rose: _I want to believe the best in people, but I don’t think I can forgive this._**

**Nathaniel: _What were you thinking?! You had Marinette and you do this? Fuck you Agreste._**

**Kim: _You’re going to regret the day you were born_**

More messages and calls showed up and he turned his phone off with a sigh. They would understand, eventually. They all would. He knew it.

“Mr. Agreste.” The voice of his assistant through the intercom was sharp and cold. He knew it was because of his confession. Not everyone could see that it was necessary.

“Yes?” he asked tiredly. What now?

“Miss Bourgeois is here to see you.”

“Oh thank god.” The words slipped out before he could stop them. Chloe would back him up. She knew the perils of fame. She would be there for him. “Send her up.”

* * *

Within moments of speaking with Adrien’s assistant, Chloe was in his office, keeping her expression carefully blank. Anger tugged at her attention, begging to be let out. She kept tight hold of it. First, she wanted to see Adrien.

He took one look at her and beamed. “Chloe!” He didn’t even pause before he hugged her. It threw her off, she was always the one to hug him.

 _He’s trying to win me over,_  she realised. Loathing built up in her heart.

Adrien babbled to her, holding her arms ignorant of her glare. “Chloe! Oh thank you, you won’t believe what people are saying. It’s insane. Everyone from Lychee are calling over the interview—even Sabrina! But you understand, don’t you?” He smiled at her expectantly

Her lips thinned into a smile she hadn’t worn since a teenager, the smile she wore when she was about to ruin some kid’s life.

“Oh Adrien,” she cooed. “How sweet, you think I’m here to support you. Because of what? Some friendship that I practically had to beg you for?” She cackled and moved out of arms. He let them drop in shock.

“Chloe?” he asked nervously.

“An affair, jeez, and I thought I was cruel. But then again, you always had a knack for hurting people and thinking it was alright.” She had slipped into another person entirely, someone that revelled in the stunned and hurt look on Adrien’s face, or was that just her anger over Marinette’s pain?

She walked over to his desk, eyeing the photos littering it. “You were always so good at fooling people into thinking you were good, much better than me, but you failed this time Adrien. You fucked up on a giant scale, and now you expect me to forgive you?” She looked over her shoulder and fixed him with a fake smile. “I can forgive a lot of things, but an affair?” She leaned against the desk and crossed her arms. “No one is going to side with you, Adrien. Least of all me. You cheated on Marinette, you hurt her. You ruined your marriage.”

Adrien was getting over his shock quickly, a defensive expression taking over his face. “She’ll forgive me,” he snapped. “She’ll see how sorry I am.”

Rage boiled in her blood and she grinned to cover it. “That’s cute. You think this is like all those other fights you two have? Where you push just right and convince her you were right, and she was wrong for even getting mad? Don’t be ridiculous!” Her laughter rang through the office like bells, loud and echoing. “This is an  _affair_. Grounds for divorce. People don’t just forgive those  _Adrikins_.” He flinched at the nickname and she relished in it. “Oh, you can peddle all types of stories to the press, but anyone who knows you won’t believe a damn thing you say. You lied to them all for sixteen months.”

“I—I had to!” Adrien argued.

“Of course you did, you always have a reason,” Chloe said bitterly. “‘ _I had to Chloe, trust me_ ’,” she mimicked. “Well no more, Adrien. I’m not listening to you anymore. You will never have my trust again.”

Adrien’s eyes widened and he stepped back. “Chloe, I…”

She rolled her eyes at his hesitation and continued. “Marinette has my trust, she has my love, my friendship, my  _support_. And you no longer will.” She stared at him with conflict in her heart. She loved him, but she could not forgive him. Nor could she let him go unpunished.

“Marinette is my friend, and for you to think I would side with you over her is ridiculous. To think anyone will is stupidity I didn’t think you were capable of. But I guess I was wrong.” Chloe spread her arms and smirked. “Look around, is anyone here to defend you? They all love Marinette, and you are just her husband. Her husband who hurt her.” She stood and sashayed over to him, leaning in close. “I’m your oldest friend, and even I won’t stand with you. What makes you think anyone else will?”

“There are others,” he hissed, turning his head to her, eyes narrowed. She smiled to see the boy she knew had lived deep under his sunshine façade. His cruel, defensive, angry side. They both had one, she had just worn her openly, and grown out of it.

“I have other friends,” he told her with a vindictive smile. “I don’t need you. I never needed you, Chloe, you had always needed me.”

“Oh really?” She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, “Does it look like I need you now?”

Anger flashed through his eyes and he snapped his eyes away from her.

Chloe moved back and walked over to his desk again. She picked up a picture of Marinette, her hands shaking with hate. How dare he have a picture of her when all he had done was hurt her.

“I love Marinette. She has always been a better friend than you,” she murmured. Adrien stiffened behind her. “I’m not the only one who thinks so. People get tired of your bullshit after a while. I know I did. And this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Her fingers turned white from gripping the photo. “Just wait and see who comes to your aid. I wouldn’t have much hope if I was you. After all,” she drawled, meeting his furious green eyes. “You fucked up pretty badly.”

She set the photo back where it was and walked to the door. Adrien whipped around and glared at her.

“Go ahead!” He shouted. “Go run off to Sabrina. Go think you’re the righteous warrior defending Marinette. You’re not, you’re just being cruel like you were in College. Marinette will forgive me.” His words were smug, sure and certain. Chloe grinned to think of the shock he was going to get.

“You’re not my only friend, Chloe,” Adrien told her. “I have others. They are true friends and  _they_  will understand.”

She turned around, meeting his gaze tiredly. He may have been her oldest friend, but this was long past due. “I love you Adrien, but I will not by your defender any longer, and I don’t know if I can be your friend either.”

His eyes flew open in surprise. “Wh—what?” He spluttered for a moment, stunned, before pausing. He studied her for a moment before snorting. “Yeah, right. I’ll see you later Chloe.” He waved her away.

She stared him down. “I’m not kidding Adrien. I stand with Marinette. We all do. You no longer have a place with us.”

His amusement drained away. Adrien crossed his arms and glared icily. “Get out.”

She didn’t move. “You know, once I may have forgiven you for cheating,” she told him, fingering her friendship bracelet. “Maybe I would have forgiven it all, stayed with you. Defended you from everyone, sacrificed all my friendships for you. But I know better now.” With a quiet exhale, she let her anger loose, let it fill her up like oxygen and burn into her blood.

Adrien uncrossed his arms and stepped towards her. “Chloe stop being ridiculous—”

In one quick move, she grabbed his wrist and squeezed it, causing his knees to buckle. “Marinette taught me I deserve better than your friendship,” she hissed to him. “And I’m going to make sure she knows she deserves better than your love. Marinette is the kindest, sweetest, strongest person I have ever met, and she doesn’t need you.” She squeezed tighter, forcing Adrien to his knees. She ignored his gasps of pain, focussing on the tears Marinette had shed.

“I love her more than you at this point in time and I didn’t think that was possible once, but here we are. I will choose her over you without a second thought. I will always love you, you will always be in my heart, but that does not mean I will defend you anymore.”

Adrien grunted and tried to pull his wrist away, but she just squeezed tighter. “Chloe…pl—please—”

She ignored him. “I am putting aside all our history, I am standing with Marinette, and soon you will have no one to stand beside you.”

She let go of his wrist and walked out the door, feeling freer than she had in years. She looked down at her friend and felt satisfaction, relief, and only a little bit of regret.

“I hope you’re satisfied Adrien,” she told him as he clutched his wrist on the ground. “Because you just lost your wife, your friends, and your life.”

He looked up at her with contempt. “Others will stand with me.”

“But I will not,” she replied, and walked out the door.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P A I N


	5. The Breaking Part 3: Kagami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami wrecks Adrien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, shoutout to @im-here-for-the-content on Tumblr for this. 
> 
> SIDENOTE: Since I'm an idiot that's new to this website, I didn't realise people were sending me comments????? Thank you???? So???? much??????
> 
> Also, be prepared for paiiiiiin

(12:50am)

* * *

 

Kagami was not surprised when Chloe exited the elevator looking drained. She walked over to the chairs where they were seated and dropped down. Nino moved forward and asked how it went, and the blonde mumbled something about nearly snapping his wrist. Kagami felt pride at that. Agreste deserved to hurt for what he had done.

Marinette’s voice rang through her head and she flinched. The pain she spoke with—it killed Kagami. It made her want to break something.

A man exited the elevator and scanned the waiting room, when he spotted her he walked over, carrying a long object wrapped in white cotton. He bowed and offered it to her.

“Kagami-sama,” he greeted. “The package you requested.”

She nodded and grabbed it, holding it delicately in her hands. “Arigatō gozaimasu.” The man – an assistant of some sort – left.

Nino looked over to her. “What is it?”

“A symbol,” she answered, “a sword.”

Worry made its way onto his face. “Are you planning to kill him?”

She shook her head, running a finger along the black hilt. “I am not expecting it to ever be used. It is symbolic.”

Chloe’s head tilted but she did not comment. “Your turn. His secretary told me she wouldn’t announce you, just in case he calls security. She’s planning to quit after today anyway.”

Kagami nodded to the secretary, who was manning the desk a floor below Agreste’s office instead of her usual one right outside it. She held hate in her eyes for her boss.

She gripped the hilt of the sword and nodded to her friends, then headed for the elevator, jabbing the button. Her last look of her friends was Chloe wiping away tears as Nino comforted her.

* * *

Agreste looked up when Kagami walked in. He was holding his wrist close to his chest and she thanked Chloe for that. The betrayed look in his eyes was worth it.

“Agreste,” she greeted coldly, placing her package in the chair beside her. She remained standing.

He looked up from where he was leaning against the desk and grimaced. “Hey. Sorry, Chloe just dropped by. You think she’s mad?” He held up his bruising wrist jokingly and it set a fire within Kagami. He was joking,  _laughing_ , as his wife fell apart. The nerve, the selfishness—

She took a breath, steadying herself. She had words to say before her anger could be loosed.

“But can you believe it?” He asked, rubbing his wrist. “I thought Chloe would understand, growing up with politics and all. She at least should have understood why I would need to clear my name.” Agreste sighed. “She even thinks everyone would be against me. But you’re here, proving her wrong. I never would have expected she would…” he sighed and shrugged. “She’s just being dramatic. Hey, do you think I could use your phone to call Marinette? She hasn’t been answering my call—”

That was the final straw, assuming he had the right to talk to the woman he had hurt more than anyone else. Kagami held up a hand and he paused, puzzled.

With no emotion, she told him, “I am here to formally cut any connections with you.”

His smile dropped, he stared at her. “What?”

“I find myself unable to remain your business partner when you have committed acts that go against my morals and expectations of you,” she told him ruthlessly. A weight was lifted off of her with each word, like tiny anchors. “Any and all business between us is over. You will be getting calls from my lawyers later today.”

“Bu—but you’re my friend!” Agreste protested, sounding like a petulant child.

She held up a hand, and it took all of her mother’s training to keep it from trembling. “Are you addressing me as a business partner or a friend?”

“A friend. What else?” He said, still staring like a gaping fish.

“Excellent.” She pulled her arm back and punched him in the mouth. He fell against the desk with a dull thud.

“Wha— _Kagami what the hell?!_ ” Agreste shouted, holding a hand to his bloody mouth. She stared down at him, remorseless.

“You wanted your friend, well here I am,” she told him, spreading her arms. “I am the friend you lied to, the friend who loves your wife—evidently more than you do.”

Agreste scrambled away from her, behind the desk, trying to get out of her reach—useless.

“You are a stain upon your family, upon this world,” she told him, anger filling every word. “You betrayed your wife and friends. No longer can I look upon you without seeing a liar and a bastard.”

He tried to speak, made to put a hand forward but she pushed onwards. “You are without integrity, honesty and loyalty are absent from you.” She planted her hands on the desk and leaned forward. “You are a coward, you are  _weak_.”

“I thought you would understand!” Agreste burst out, his own anger making itself known. “You grew up like me, you must understand what it’s like Kagami!”

“Keep my name out of your mouth,” she snarled over the desk. “I will not have cowards speak of me. Cowards who hide behind their family name and use their upbringing to justify their mistakes.” She slammed her fist down on the desk, making it rattle. “You are a grown man, you can no longer hide behind your father’s mistakes. Everything you have done is your own fault and you are weaker than I thought if you are attempting to blame it on a bad childhood.”

He stepped forward, glaring at her. “My reputation is all I have! Without out it— without it I am noth—"

“You think your reputation is all you have? What of your wife?” Kagami seethed. “Your friends? Your children? Or are those just things you may abandon, expecting them to remain where you left them? You are still that child who is blind to the harm he causes others, lost in your perfect world where nothing can go wrong. You are still that fool who is selfish enough to think Marinette will just fall into your arms, forgive you after a moment of anger. You won’t even let her feel anger! It’s been less than two hours and already you think you may speak to her.”

Marinette was worthless to him, she meant less than the words of others in his eyes. She was glad she had left her sabre at home, she would have killed him then and there.

She shook her head and stood up straight. “You expect her to love you no matter what you do, that she will accept your mistakes when she is the one hurt more than anyone else. It’s just like all those years ago when we went on that double date to that ice rink.” Oh, the silent tears Marinette had shed when she recounted it. Kagami wished she had realised then the pain Agreste was causing her. She would have told her to leave him before he hurt her even more.

“You were pining after Ladybug—Marinette herself—and thought it was acceptable to string me along, to ask me on a date when you were still not over her. I was fool enough to agree, to think I was helping you when all I was doing was enabling you. And you dragged Marinette along too, selfish even when you couldn’t see how hurt she was.”

Outrage flashed across Agreste’s face. “I didn’t know she was Ladybug! She never told me how she felt, how she—she was Marinette! And she agreed to that date, all on her own. It was her decision, you can’t blame that on me!”

“I can blame you for being blind!” Kagami shot back. “I can blame you for being selfish in every part of your life. I can blame you for being a characterless coward. I can blame you for so many things because you are idiot enough to not learn from your mistakes. I can blame you for playing Marinette’s heart then and breaking it now. I can blame you for denying her the chance to be with someone who cherishes her more than you ever could. Someone who has stood beside her and seen all the wrongs you have done and let her go regardless.”

Agreste gaped again. “Who— _Luka_? Marinette chose me over Luka all on her own! It was her choice!”

 _He still didn’t know about Felix_ , Kagami realised. He was still so blind that he couldn’t see the longing and love in his brother’s eyes whenever he looked at Marinette.

“You are a small-minded  _fool_ ,” Kagami said instead. It wasn’t her place. “Marinette had options other than you then, and she has them now. She doesn’t need you, and only an idiot will think she wants you after what you have done. She has people who love her, and she doesn’t need an honourless husband.”

Agreste stomped forward, pointing a finger at her. “I—”

“You haven’t changed in all the years I have known you,” Kagami said over him. “You are still a passive  _aho_. You are a  _child_. You couldn’t even tell her of your disgusting deeds yourself, to her face you instead made it all public, so desperate to be seen in the best light you didn’t even pause to think of your family. The definition of selfish cowardice. Ruining any chance of leniency in an effort to avoid false drug charges.” She growled. “You’re an even bigger idiot than I could ever think. You have dishonoured your name and your family. You have tainted every memory anyone has of you with the betrayal you have committed. You have ruined anything and everything.”

“I—”

“Your children will look at you and they will see a monster. They will see you only as a shame. They will spend the rest of their life with the knowledge their father is a heartless beast that cared more for his own pleasures than them. You shall be their greatest regret, the man who tore their family apart over sex, not even love. You will no longer be their father, instead, all they will see is the man who broke their mother’s heart. They will  _hate you_.”

He took a step back, eyes wide with shock before narrowing into rage. “Kagam—"

She didn’t give him a chance to speak, grabbing his shirt and pulling him down until he was sprawled across the desk. He let out a cry and looked up to her in fear. She grabbed his tie, pulling him up until he was nearly choking. “You are a stain upon this world,” she hissed. “An enemy to Marinette and her children. Your words are worth less than dirt. Nothing you say can be trusted after  _months_  of lies. You were weak enough to betray her, and you are no longer worthy to even call yourself hers. You have dishonoured her and everyone who loves you.” With that she let go of him, grabbed the package she had brought with her, unwrapping it and holding it up for him to see. The silver blade of the sword glinted in the light.

He gasped and scrambled away, pressing himself again the glass wall behind him in horror. “That—that’s a—”

“A wakizashi,” she finished ruthlessly. “The sword of ritual suicide. Samurai would fell themselves with their wakizashi to restore their honour.” She laid it down on his desk and met his eyes. “I leave you this not to tell you to kill yourself—even now I hold some regard for your health.” Her voice was bitter. “I leave this to you instead as a constant reminder of the crimes you have committed. The dishonour your actions have brought upon you and all who know you: Marinette, Emma, Hugo, Felix, Nino, Chloe, Alya, your father. Your mother.” He winced at that and she pressed on it. “You have dishonoured the woman who raised you by committing such acts against your family. You have dishonoured the dead and the living.”

She stared at him, at his shock and fear, and felt no guilt. “Goodbye Agreste. My lawyers will be calling.” She turned for the door.

He ran out from behind the desk, eyeing the wakizashi fearfully. As she touched the door handle he grabbed her arm. She froze, turning to look at him with only one eye.

“Please Kagami,” he begged. “We both know this doesn’t mean much. Marinette will forgive me, take back the wakizashi. See sense—”

She elbowed him in the gut and then kicked him in the ankle, putting all of her rage and loathing into the moves. He fell to the floor and she stood over him. She placed a foot on his chest and put weight on it, making him groan.

“Do not speak to me,” she hissed. “You are without integrity, without honour. Be thankful you are even breathing now.” She removed her foot, stalking to the door. She paused just outside, ignoring the looks some of the designers were giving her. Kagami stared down the coward she had once called friend with no regrets. “You are nothing.”

* * *

Adrien stared after her as she disappeared into the elevator, left lying on the ground with only the injuries she had given, the words she had said, and the wakizashi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, that's gonna leave a mark.  
> Next chap incoming!


	6. The Breaking Part 4: Nino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And at last, Nino takes the stage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me posting two chapters in one day? It's more likely than you think. Again, apologies for not realising people send comments, I'm an idiot. 
> 
> Be warned, I cried writing this. I cried posting this. I'm crying right now. This is angsty.

(1:30am)

* * *

 

Nino’s breath left him when Kagami walked out, head held high as she walked over to him and Chloe. He knew it was his turn next, his turn to give Adrien a piece of his mind and yet…

He wasn’t sure if he would survive it.

He wasn’t sure if Adrien would survive it.

Chloe stood, buzzing with nerves and anger. “What did you do?”

“Made him hurt,” Kagami answered. Chloe nodded, joined in their solidarity.

They turned to Nino. “Are you ready?”

Was he ready to end his friendship? Was he ready to make Adrien hurt for what he had done? Was he ready to show all his anger and disappointment?

He glanced down to the phone in his hand, to the text Alya had just sent a minute ago, telling him that Felix had come to the house, to comfort Mari.

 _Of course he would_ , Nino thought,  _he loves her._

He flashed to Adrien’s careful mask as he recounted his crimes, how he hadn’t even told Marinette before broadcasting it to the whole world.

_He loves her more than Adrien._

_And so do I._

He looked up to the two women and nodded, determination turning him to iron, so he would not falter when he faced his friend. “I’m ready.”

* * *

Adrien didn’t call for security. He just stared down at the wakizashi Kagami had given him, not daring to touch it.

He sat behind his desk and stared, knowing that when she saw sense, she would come to collect it herself.

It was only a matter of time before they all saw sense. Marinette would get over her anger and forgive him, seeing that he was so very apologetic, and then the rest would follow. They were his friends, his family. The words Chloe and Kagami and spat were meaningless, born from shock. They would cool down and take them back soon enough. He just had to see Marinette and she would convince them.

She would forgive him, they all would.

* * *

Nino nearly walked right out of the office when he saw Adrien smile at him.

His teeth were still a little bloody from Kagami’s punch – she had gleefully recounted her conversation with him – and the smile came off more like a grimace. But the joy in his green eyes made Nino’s blood heat up with anger, remembering Mari’s broken voice.

“Nino, bro, thank god.” Adrien didn’t even suspect him of being angry. Clearly, he had not learned his lesson with Kagami and Chloe. He sagged a little in his chair—in relief.

“Adrien,” he returned softly.

The blonde didn’t even see his heartbroken expression. “Kagami punched me, man! Can you believe it? I mean, I’m not sure I deserve to have my teeth ache for the next three days, do you? I know I got far worse back in the day as Chat Noir, but wow, Kagami was really mad.” He shook his head and shrugged. “Well, it’s not like she won’t apologise later. Anyway, any ideas?”

Nino stared at him. “Ideas?”

“For what to say to Marinette,” Adrien told him as if it was obvious. “You’ve known her since you guys were kids. You must have perfected the art of apologising. So hit me, what do you have?”

“You think I came here… to help you apologise to Marinette?” The words tasted bitter in Nino’s mouth; he could barely believe Adrien. He really didn’t know him anymore. Had he ever?

“Well, why else would you come?” Adrien’s smile faded, turning wary. “You do support me, right?”

He really was a child, Nino realised. Looking at him, with his bruising face and childish expression, he could finally see what he had been ignorant to. A selfish, self-absorbed, arrogant, child. Adrien was blind, he didn’t even see the way Nino couldn’t look him in the eyes.

Nino…?” Adrien asked, standing up slowly. He walked over, tried to hug him, but Nino stepped away, shaking his head.

“I can’t,” he said, even as tears burned his eyes. “I can’t support you Adrien. Not after what you have done.”

Adrien’s expression turned to hurt. As if he had the right to feel like he was the victim in all of this.

“But—but Nino  _please_.” He grabbed Nino’s arm, eyes wide and pleading. “You’re my best friend, you know I would never do anything to hurt Marinette.”

“But you did!” Anger erupted out of him, red hot and vengeful. “You  _cheated_  on her, then you lied about it, and then you told the whole damn world. You—you  _hurt_  her Adrien. You betrayed her.” He ripped his arm away from him, looking at him in disgust.

 “It was an accident; you can see that!” He protested, still reaching out for him. “I promise to make sure to make up for it, I will, I promise Nino! Please don’t just leave me!”

“You can’t make up for this!” He glared at the blond, outraged by the very idea. “You can’t just think a promise is going to make anyone believe you. You promised to love Marinette, to cherish her, to never hurt her and you did just that. You cheated on her and then told the world about it!”

 “I had to!” Adrien looked close to ripping his hair out. “I had to tell Mark otherwise he would blackmail me, or worse, actually tell the press I was using drugs—”

 _“THAT DOESN’T CHANGE THAT YOU CHEATED ON HER!”_  Nino shouted, red blinding his vision. “THAT DOESN’T CHANGE YOU CHOSE SEX OVER YOUR WIFE. THAT DOESN’T CHANGE THAT YOU LIED FOR SIXTEEN MONTHS.”

“It was a mistake!” Adrien bellowed back. He ran a hand through his hair, looking at Nino pleadingly, begging him to understand. But he couldn’t, he just couldn’t. All he knew was that Adrien had hurt Marinette and that it was unacceptable.

“It was an accident, Nino,” he said in a hushed voice. “I was drunk, I was lonely, I was nearly insane—”

“You were  _weak_ ,” Nino spat. He had been drunk before, he had been lonely before, he had been nearly insane in far worse ways than Adrien could know, and he had never done what he had. “You are weak and a liar and a bastard. You are a terrible husband, father, and friend.”

Anger burned in Adrien’s eyes, dark and horrible. “Don’t try and make this about you!” He seethed, pointing a finger at Nino. “Everyone is trying to make this about them but it’s only about me and Marin—”

“Marinette? Marinette who knew nothing until today? Marinette who was crying her eyes out this morning? Marinette who I have loved since we were children?” Nino crowded into Adrien’s space, making use of his extra height to look down at him. He stumbled back, staring up at Nino in fear.

“Nin—"

“She is the closest thing I have to a sister and you broke her heart,” he hissed. “I have hurt her nearly as much as you because I didn’t see what you were doing. I should have known you were not worthy of her. Looking back all I can see are your faults. Every day since we met was a warning sign and I ignored them.” He clutched at his head, trying to ignore his breaking heart. “You have hurt her since the day you two met and we barely noticed.”

Adrien’s green eyes narrowed in barely disguised defensiveness. “What are you talking about—”

“Remember Lila?” Nino snapped, loathing already building up in his throat. “Remember how you promised to stand by Marinette and then did nothing? How you let  _everyone_  believe Lila was telling the truth, how you let Marinette deal with it all on her own? Remember how you let me believe everything Lila said, let me believe that Marinette was a bully? Remember how you didn’t do  _anything_  to protect Mari?”

“You forgave me for that!” Adrien yelled back. “You all did! Marinette forgave me, didn’t she? She married me!”

“Because we were blind! Because we couldn’t see how stupid and selfish you were!” Nino shouted, swiping his hand through the air in anger. “You lied to us just as much as Lila!”

Adrien gaped at him, and Nino used his shock to take a pause. He took a breath and tried to calm down, so he didn’t lose his control and do something stupid, like throttle Adrien.

Quietly, Nino told him, “I was too young and foolish to see the true meanings of your actions, the passiveness, and selfishness of them. And even when I got older, I brushed them aside as mistakes, one-offs.” Tears appeared in his eyes, hot and horrible. “I loved you, Adrien, you were my best friend, and you did this.”

“W-were?” His friend crept closer, face wary. “What do you mean, ‘were’? What are you talking about?”

With a broken sigh, Nino said, “After what you have done—” A sob made its way into his throat and choked him off.

Adrien jumped on his weakness and tried to desperately pull him back in. He grabbed Nino’s hand and squeezed reassuringly. It made Nino sick, all he could think about was Marinette and the tears in her eyes.

“I had good reason Nino,” Adrien promised eagerly. “I do, I can tell you all of them—"

Nino held up a hand, shutting his eyes from the image of his best friend trying to justify his affair. The honeyed words died in Adrien’s mouth, surprise and hope made their way into his eyes. He was  _hopeful_ , hopeful Nino was forgiving him. As if it was possible. 

Instead, Nino said, “I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”

Relief flooded through him even as his heart broke.

The hope faded from Adrien’s eyes, leaving shock and fear in its wake. He dropped Nino’s hand.

_“What?”_

Nino looked him in the eye. “You lied to me.”

Adrien reached for him. “I had to.”

Nino took a step back. “You hurt Marinette.”

The blond followed. “I didn’t mean to.”

Nino shook his head. “You don’t respect her. Even as teenagers, you never respected her, not as she deserves. I should have seen it.” More tears welled up and he pressed two hands to his heart. “I should have been there for her when everything was going wrong. When you were too pushy, when you were too passive when you were too cruel.” He levelled a tearful glare at Adrien, matching his furious green gaze. “I should have protected her, but no, she doesn’t need protecting. You just need to be taught a lesson.”

A snarl ripped from Adrien’s mouth, but it sounded more like a whine. “Nino, please stop. Stop,  _please_.”

Rage burned in his veins.

“ _No_.” Nino stalked forward and grabbed Adrien’s collar, lifting him up to his height. “I am not going to stop, because you never did! You didn’t stop when you had the chance, you just kept making mistake after mistake and I never called you out on it.” He dropped Adrien, glowering down at him.

“I hope you satisfied; I hope you are  _finally, finally_  satisfied!” he yelled down at his once friend. “I hope you had a blast while you dragged all of us along, ruining our lives in the pursuit of your own pleasure!  _Your own joy, your own perfect, perfect fucking world._ ” He shoved Adrien, pushing him back into the window.

He put a hand up in defense. “Nino  _wait_ —"

“Oh you just say what you need to say, don’t you?” He seethed. “You just say whatever you can to get everyone to believe you. Do words— _do promises_ —have  _any_  meaning to you? Did you mean anything you said to us? TO YOUR  _FRIENDS_?” He put a hand to his chest, right over his hurting heart. “What about your wedding vows? The promise you made to never hurt your family?”

He could barely speak through his tears and rage. Everything hurt so much, it felt like he was ripping himself apart. All he could feel was anger, outrage, betrayal.

It hurt so much.

He wiped away his tears, pointing accusingly at Adrien. “Are you even sorry?! Do you even  _care_? Or do you just see us as things you can crush and leave behind whenever we inconvenience you? Should I just let you do whatever you want, let you treat years of trust and friendship like trash? Treat Marinette like  _NOTHING_?”

Adrien was crying now too, sobbing his heart out, but it was too late, too late for any of it.

“I’m sorry, please Nino, you’re all I have,” he cried out. “I’ll do anything, I’ll walk on glass, I’ll do whatever you want—”

“It’s not what I want!” Nino shouted; voice hoarse. “It’s about what you have done, about everything that lies broken between us. How can I trust you after what you have done?” His voice broke and he sobbed. “How can anyone? How can we go on with our lives after you betrayed everything we thought we knew about you?”

He felt like screaming, screaming for the unfairness of it all. How could the world do this? No, how could Adrien do this,  _how could he, how could he, how could he?_

Adrien scrambled forward, face red and eyes running. He gripped Nino’s arms, forcing him to look at the blond. “Nino, I’ll make everything better,” he said, throat choked with sobs. “I swear, I swear I can. Everything will be alright; I can fix this. Everything can be just as it was. Marinette will forgive me, I know she will, and then you won’t have to be mad!” He was growing hope, his words heavy with it.

“I’ll show Mari how sorry I am and then it’ll be just fine, and then everyone won’t be so angry. Alya will calm down, Kagami and Chloe will apologise, the kids will never have to know!” He smiled wetly at Nino, eyes alight with his fantasies. “I know I hurt Mari, but we can get through this. I’ll make it up to her, to you, to everyone. Everything will go back to normal.”

Nino could only shake his head, pulling his arms away and hugging himself to keep from shaking. “It’s not possible Adrien.”

“Why not?” He demanded. “I can do it, just trust me.”

“I CAN’T!” Nino exploded. “I CAN’T BECAUSE YOU RUINED EVERYTHING.” He breathed raggedly, squeezing his eyes shut. “How can I look at Emma and Hugo without remembering how you ripped their mother apart? How can I look at Marinette and not regret stopping you? How can I look at you and not  _hate you?_ ”

He opened his eyes and scowled. “This isn’t like before Adrien. It’s not like when we were kids. You aren’t a teenager hurting feeling anymore, you are a grown man, ruining  _everything_. You didn’t just ruin your relationship with your Marinette and her kids, but you ruined the family we all found together.”

Nino heaved, struggling to keep back his tears. “You fucked up, and Miraculous Ladybug can’t wipe it all away. How can anything ever be the same again?”

The words seemed to have gotten through to Adrien, at least slightly, because new tears fell down his cheeks and he started pleading again with vigour. “Please, please don’t leave me. You’re my closest friend please _I can’t lose you—”_

“You lost me the moment you betrayed my sister,” Nino spat, trying desperately to keep his resolve.

Adrien fell to his knees, green eyes red and welling with tears. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please, please Nino. I love you, please, I’ll do anything!”

Disgust and loathing exploded behind Nino’s eyes. Adrien should be begging Marinette for forgiveness, not Nino. Nino should never have been here. This never should have been an affair so public everyone knew.

“You disgust me,” he said, relishing how Adrien flinched. “You treat me with more respect than Marinette. Tell me, would you be saying the same things to her, if she was here right now?”

“I would,” Adrien wailed, “I would, Nino, just don’t  _leave_. Please don’t leave me, I can’t do this without you, please—”

“You have always done everything without me,” Nino told him coldly, suddenly empty of emotion. “You never listen to me, at least not when it counts.” His hands tightened into fists. “I hope you finally listened this time Adrien, I hope you realise that I am done with you.”

He walked to the door and pulled it open, desperately trying to ignore Adrien’s pleading and his own heavy, broke heart.

He could hear Adrien’s sobs until the elevator doors closed, and then he broke into his own.

* * *

Adrien kneeled in his office, staring at the elevator through blurry tears.

 _How could Nino do this?_  He couldn’t believe it, it felt too real, too big for what he had done.

He knelt there for a few more moments, trying to calm his rising hysteria. It would be okay; Marinette was the key to getting Nino back. To get them all back. If he could just get Marinette back, then everyone would come back to him.

He took a deep breath, reassured. What Nino had said wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true. He didn’t regret letting Marinette marry him. He was just angry and confused. He was shocked, the news had been sudden after all.

Slowly, Adrien stood up and walked to his desk for tissues, but his hands shook so much had curled them into fists.

 _It was fine, it wasn’t real,_  he reminded himself, ignoring that small little doubt in the back of his mind. Nino was his best friend; he could forgive this.

Adrien wiped away his tears and straightened his back, smoothing his shirt just in case his father came by. Not that Adrien had much contact with him anyway. Even Felix, who didn’t even work at  _Gabriel_  got attention from the company’s namesake. From their father.

He picked up a picture from his desk, holding it tenderly as he walked around and sat in his chair. It was of him, Marinette, Alya, and Nino, back in College. He smiled down at it, at the joyful faces on all of them.

His grip tightened on it, and he swore to himself he would fix everything. The words his friends spat at him meant nothing, and everyone would forget when he was done.

Everything would be just fine; he was sure of it. He knew it.

Wiping away his tears, he placed the picture down, telling his aching heart that Nino would come back, they all would.

It would be fine, just like before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why'd you do it Adrien?  
> *shakes head*  
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed!!!


	7. The Best Friend

(12:10am)

* * *

 

Alya watched her husband and friends get in Chloe’s limo, trying not to scream. She kept seeing Marinette’s face, devastated, tearful, broken. It brought a fire to her heart, and she itched to go to Adrien and make him hurt right then, but she had a plan.

 She closed the door to Marinette’s house—Marinette’s, not Adrien’s, to Alya he owned nothing Marinette had ever touched or love—and walked up the stairs, finding her best friend sitting on her bed, staring at the wall.

“Marinette?” She called softly, staying in the doorway. She didn’t know what to do, how to help Mari. What could she do in the face of Adrien’s betrayal?

“Alya,” her friend murmured, red-rimmed eyes finding her own. “Are they—?” Her voice cut off, but Alya knew what she meant.

“Your parents picked up Emma and Hugo,” she confirmed. “They were worried for you, they wanted to see you, but they took the kids to the bakery. Nino, Chloe and Kagami just left.”

Some of the tension left Marinette, but new tears rolled down her face. She heaved, pressing two hands to her stomach, as if she was going to be sick. Alya ran forward, hugging her friend tightly, begging the universe for something— _anything_ , to ease her pain.

“How could he do this?” Marinette cried, sounding for all the world as if she was dying. “Am I not enough? Was our family not enough? Is he ever satisfied?”

Alya didn’t answer, just pulled Marinette closer, trying to keep her own tears back. She would not lie, Adrien’s betrayal hurt, it hurt to know one of her best friends was not who she thought him to be, but it hurt more to see her near sister so broken hearted. It burned, making a hole in her heart were Adrien used to be held.

Eventually Marinette stopped crying and slumped against Alya, asleep. Gently, she laid the bluenette down on the bed, though she hated doing so. This was the bed Adrien had brought his mistress to, on the many occasions he had met her. That Ketch girl. Alya would hunt her down and make her pay, but not as much as Adrien.

Slipping out of the room, Alya leaned against the hallway wall, pressing a hand to her mouth to stop her sobs from waking Marinette. Dear gods, it was like physical pain, what Adrien had done. Like a deep cut in her gut. It hurt even more to know Marinette felt a thousand times worse than this. She  _never_  should have had to suffer, and yet she was, on a scale unimaginable to Alya.

She took a bitter moment to wish she had objected to the marriage, that she had seen how truly selfish and blind Adrien was. That Marinette had married Felix instead. This never would have happened if Felix had been her husband, but they had all been blinded by Adrien’s sweetness, by his golden light.

And now they were left burning, and they had no one to blame but themselves.

* * *

She left Marinette where she was, instead using her time to clean up the house. She didn’t know what else to do. She hated housework, only did it when absolutely necessary, but she felt so absolutely helpless that doing dishes was better than just standing around waiting for Marinette to wake up.

She washed the dishes, moped the flaws, tidied the living room and cleaned the entire first floor, but she was really just removing toys and books. The house was already spotless, it made her feel useless.

Then she went into Emma and Hugo’s room and packed two bags with their clothes and toys, knowing that Marinette was in no state to be looking after them. They would stay with Sabine and Tom until this mess was sorted out, or Alya and Nino would take care of them. She was sure any of the others were more than willing to help too.

When she had packed and repacked the bags twice, Alya started to cook. The perks of having a world-famous chef for a mother was that even Alya could whip up something. She raided the kitchen and made red beans and rice, then the family chicken and vegetable dish from back home. Then she cleaned the kitchen again. She looked at the clock and realised she had only passed an hour.

She spent the next twenty minutes miserably eating beans and rice, crying her eyes out or planning how exactly she was going to kill Adrien, resisting the urge to go see her best friend. It would only make her cry more to see her friend laid out like a broken china doll.

Then she heard a scream from upstairs, and her heart stopped.

* * *

Alya ran into the bedroom and saw Marinette on the floor, curled into a fetal position, her hair spread out around her like a fan. She was screaming, beating one fist into the ground while the other—her left hand, the one with her wedding ring—stayed curled against her chest.

“Marinette!” She rushed forward, fear and panic battering at her ribs, pulling her friend up and holding her face, checking to see if she was hurt. Marinette just cried, the only thing holding her up was Alya’s arms.

“What happened?” She asked, trying to breathe through her panic. Was she having a breakdown? Was this normal? Please for the love of god let this be normal, don’t let her friend fall apart—

“ _Felix_ ,” Marinette gasped, like she was drowning, like she was dying. “Please, please Alya I need Felix, I can’t brea—I can’t breathe.” She dissolved into more sobbing, falling against Alya.

She shut her eyes tight, holding onto Marinette for dear life. She just needed a moment, just a moment to calm herself.

“Okay Marinette,” she said softly. “I’ll call him, I promise. But will you please get on the bed? I just need to make sure you’re okay.”

The other woman didn’t say anything, but she stopped shaking a little and her breathing evened out. Alya managed to stand up, holding onto Marinette’s hands, and lead her to her bed.

She sat Mari down, promised to be back, and then went to call Felix downstairs.

Now that she was sure Marinette was safe, that she wasn’t going to go insane—at least for the moment—she felt her rage build back up.  _Fucking Adrien his fault, his fault, his fault._

She pressed call, knowing Felix would share the feeling of utter resentment.

He answered. “Yes?”

“Felix,” she said, and told him what to do.

* * *

Felix arrived in a rage, burning the way he always had ice cold, like a star but now it was different, like he was falling apart. He was a black hole, ready to destroy anything close to him. He looked ready to commit a murder.

Yet that anger softened in an instant when he saw Marinette, love plain as day on his face. It broke Alya’s heart all over again. She had to turn away for a moment. If only he had not been so selfless and told Marinette he loved her. Maybe this would have all been avoided.

She left them together, then texted Nino to let him know Felix was here. Then she spent the next twenty minutes thinking over the next stage of her plan. She could not fix everything in a snap, but she could make Adrien pay in more than one way.

Felix came downstairs, looking drained and upset, but burning with fury. He walked to towards the door and she followed.

“I’ll be back.”

She crossed her arms. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to see Adrien.”

Alya shook her head. “No.”

He snapped his eyes to her in surprise. “What?”

She lifted her chin, clutching her anger close. “I’m seeing him first. Nino, Chloe, Kagami, they are having their turns right now. It’s mine next. You get the last one before Marinette.” She grinned, but not out of joy. “It will hurt more, and I intend to make him hurt. His brother and his wife will be the final ones to show him just how he fucked up.”

She saw Felix hesitate, his need to go punch Adrien clearly urging him to leave, but she knew he was a planner, and he loved poetic justice.

He nodded. “I’ll watch over her.”

Alya could not help but think of all the times he watched Adrien and Marinette from a distance, loving her in secret. But that was not what mattered, not now. The only thing that mattered was making sure Adrien hurt.

She turned and opened the door. “I’ll text you when it’s over.” She walked out, trusting him to protect the woman they both loved.

* * *

She found Nino, Chloe, and Kagami just as they were leaving the building. All of them looked rightfully angry, but Chloe and Nino also looked beaten down.

She felt pity for them. They loved Adrien so very much, it must have been horrible to confront him, to see all his faults and finally call him out on them.

“Hey,” she murmured. And that was all it took before Nino slumped into her; his eyes wet.

“It hurts,” he whimpered into her hair, voice thin and brittle. Her hands curled into fists, but she still held him up. He needed her right now, Adrien could wait.

Her husband shuddered. “I looked at him and all I saw was the hurt he caused Marinette but…” he voice broke. “When I think of him, I still wish he was my friend.”

“I know love,” she said, meeting Chloe and Kagami’s eyes over his shoulder, speaking to all three of them. “But no matter what, remember that he lied to all of us. That no matter how many good years we had together, they do not excuse the hurt he has caused all of us, and Mari.” She took a sharp breath in. “We cannot undo the past—to stop Adrien or save Marinette, but we can secure a future where he can never hurt us again.”

Her voice turned bitter. “We all could have done better. We no longer have excuses. We are grown and should have seen the damage he had done. I knew Marinette felt insignificant, she told me about all the times Adrien ditched her at galas. I saw how distant he was during that time he was with that woman.” She snarled, and Nino stood straight, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“You couldn’t have known,” he said. “None of us did.”

“ _But I should have!_ ” she cried, tears welling up and blurring her vision. “I saw all the signs, but I was so fucking  _blind_  and so fucking  _stupid_ —”

“Stop blaming yourself,” Chloe snapped. Her blue eyes were frosty. “We are all at fault for not seeing all his faults sooner, but Adrien is the only one who should be blamed for this mess. He was the one who hurt Marinette.”

Kagami squared her jaw and nodded, on hesitation in her eyes. “He will pay for his dishonour.”

The blonde’s face was pale but certain. “Kagami is right. I love Adrien, and yet all the things over the years… it turns out he wasn’t who we thought he was, and he needs to suffer for his mistakes.”

Wiping away his tears, Nino voiced his agreement. “Sometimes, I would have my doubts, but I always brushed them away… we shouldn’t have done it, we should have stopped him.”

Alya brushed a hand against his cheek, her insides aching at the conflict he was facing. “We cannot undo what has been done, but we can make Adrien hurt.” She pointed to Chloe. “Call your car, get back to Marinette… or, actually…” She paused, thinking. “Wait a bit. Go to your hotel or the bakery. Give her and Felix a moment together, they both need it.”

Her husbands and friends nodded. Chloe murmured, “Poor Felix…”

“He’s with her,” Nino told her. “It’s the best place he could be.”

Kagami nodded, then looked to Alya with steady dark eyes. “Make him hurt.” The three then left, with hugs and kisses and reassurances.

Alya watched them go, a heavy feeling settling around her heart. An iron wall, so she could face what she was about to do.

She looked up the Gabriel building, imagining a blond idiot she was about to confront.

_For Emma. For Hugo. For Us. For **Marinette**._

* * *

She saw the fear in Adrien’s face when she walked into his office. He clearly had at least some intelligence. Immediately, he stood, hand reaching for the phone.

She lunged forward and threw it at the wall, smiling at him with all her teeth. “None of that Adrien, I want to have a nice private  _chat_.”

“Alya,” he said, but his voice shook. “Please, you know I had my reasons, you know I would never hurt Marinette—”

She blinked at him, an inescapable fury building up inside her blood. “You are an idiot.” 

Adrien flinched at the poison in her voice. “Alya  _please_ —”

“What reasons could you have to  _cheat_?!” She growled. “And now you have the audacity to tell me you would never hurt Marinette?”

He glared at her, but his eyes betrayed his fear. “I never meant to; I love her. She is my  _wife_.”

Alya slammed her fist into the desk. “You don’t deserve to call her that!”

“She is my  _WIFE_ ; I have never willing hurt her!”

“Oh really?” Alya asked venomously. “I have been her best friend since College, I have been witness to all the times you made her feel like shit.”

He leaned forward, a growl building up inside his throat. “I never—”

“Let’s see.” She crossed her arms and stared him down, trying to keep the pure animal rage locked up inside herself. She held up a hand and started ticking fingers off. “You never gave her a second thought in school. You thought the scarf she made for you was from your father, that made her cry. That date you asked her to join between you and Kagami—that made her cry. That time you abandoned her to just let Lila lie and lie and lie to all of us—that nearly akumatized her  _multiple times._ ”

Adrien flushed. “But—”

She cut him off. “Let’s not forget what you did as Chat Noir. All those confessions, all those roses, all those tantrums and times you disrespected her decisions to reject you.”  _Oh god,_  Alya thought,  _how had I ever thought he was good enough for her?_   She shook off that guilt for a later date. 

“You chased Ladybug as Chat Noir, not even sparing a glance at Marinette—oh that messed her head up so much after she found out your identity. It made her feel like Marinette wasn’t good enough.” Alya fought the urge to grab a pen and stab him at the memory and forced herself to keep speaking. “It didn’t help that you only started liking her once you found out she was Ladybug.”

“I can’t—”

She grabbed his shirt and pulled until he was nearly across the desk. “ _I’m. not. Finished,”_  she hissed.

His mouth went slack, and she dropped him, relishing the thud he made against the floor.

“Now where was I… oh yes. Everything  _after_.” She bared her teeth and he scrambled back, eyeing her like she was a wild animal, and oh, how she felt like one.

“I can remember every time you made Marinette feel inferior,” she spat at him. “All those times you disregarded her feelings—how you kept in contact with Lila, after  _everything_  that bitch did to Mari. It hurt her so much when she came back into our lives in university and then you  _let_  her. And even after university, all those times you convinced Mari to go to coffee meet ups with you, to see Lila.”

“It was once a  _year_!” Adrien snapped.

“It  _hurt_  her,” Alya bit back. “It hurt her so much and I was so busy avoiding Lila myself that I never thought to listen to what Felix and Kagami and Chloe and Nino was saying, about how it was shameful for you to do what you were doing.

“And it just got worse and worse, like when we started to overhear models gossip about how you were so kind, how they thought you had flirted with them. I always had to comfort Mari; I was the one who convinced her you were just being polite. Then it was how you had so little time for her, how you were so busy trying to please your father she felt she would always come second, or third, or fourth. I was the one to convince her it was just for a little while.”

She laughed humourlessly, guilt burning her throat. “I hate myself for it, for excusing what a terrible person you were, but I cannot be blamed for what a terrible  _husband_  you have been.”

He opened his mouth, but she beat him too it, rage in every word.

“You were never there for her.” She snarled. “Always gone on modelling trips, or business trips. Anything to keep your father happy, but at some point, he stopped telling you where to go, and you just went on your own. It was one of the hardest parts of Marinette’s life, trying to convince herself you would be back, that you  _had_  to leave her, and I played along.” It was one of her biggest regrets, not seeing what was oh so clear now.

“I was there!” Adrien protested. “I was there, you know I was—”

“Oh you were there when Emma was born,” Alya agreed. “To be a father, to fix all your  _daddy issues_. Marinette didn’t mind, she was just so glad you were home. But then you started to drift away, and she was left alone more and more to raise your daughter. She had to take a week off of work when Emma got sick, but you were in another city and didn’t bother to come home and help your fucking wife and child.”

“It was an important trip…” Adrien whispered, but even he seemed to doubt his words.

“And it didn’t get better after Hugo, you were so distant that he had trouble remembering you.”

Resentment grew across his face. “He is an infant; he can’t be expected—”

“Then the murmurs got louder,” she said over him, words imbued disgust. Oh, this part was one of the worse. “How those intimate photoshoots were getting a little too intimate. And then you started to abandon Mari at those parties more and more, or just straight up ignored her.

“Then you have an AFFAIR, and then tell the  _whole fucking world_ , expecting everything to end up just fine.” Alya smiled at him viciously. “That’s pretty fucking stupid.”

Adrien shook his head. “I regret my actions, I regret them so, so much, I wish I could take it all back. I promise I will—"

“Oh no, no, no, you are not going to have that chance,” Alya interrupted, fists clenched as she took a step and shoved her face in front of his. “You broke her heart; you broke all our hearts. You cheated on her, you treated her like  _shit_. You hurt her in ways you can’t  _begin_  to understand!”

He took a step back. “I didn’t want to-”

“Didn’t want to?” Alya snarled. “You had an affair for  _SIXTEEN FUCKING MONTHS_ , how was that an accident?” She stabbed his chest with her finger, making him stumble back. “Congratulations!” She shouted. “You fucked up big time, Adrien!”

“I never meant for this to happen,” He said desperately. “I was stupid—”

“We suffered through  _years_  of seeing Marinette being hurt again and again by you,” Alya said. “We had to go through seeing her cry and break down and then lie to herself, and then we lied to ourselves too because it was better than accepting what a horrible person you were.  **Marinette**  is in  _pieces_ ,  _I_  am in  _pieces_ ,  _Nino_  is in  _pieces_ ,  _Chloe_ and  _Kagami_  and  _Felix_  and all of our friends are broken into  _shatters_ because of  _ **you**_!” Alya shouted, voice thick with anger. Tears welled up in her eyes. “And it was all because of you, you were our friend and you broke us!”

“I am hurting too,” He said, voice growing in anger. His green eyes were no longer filled with apology, but with fury and defensiveness. “What about me?”

“I am not here for you,” Alya spat. “I am here for  _my **friends**_ , who are hurting, who you broke. What you did to Marinette is unforgivable.” She took a shuddering breath and Adrien took the opportunity to move back several steps.

“I know Marinette like I know my own heart,” she said. “There is no one as sweet or as kind, who trusts so completely, so loves so totally, and you broke her! You destroyed her into a shadow of nothing! You broke her heart!” She glared at him and balled her hands into fists. “ _YOU BROKE HER_!”

“I LOVE HER!” Adrien screamed back, more animal than human.

Tears fell from Alya’s hazel eyes, but her glare was so intense Adrien took a step back.

“Did you know,” Alya said softly, wiping away her tears, “what seems a million years ago, she said to me that she loved you, and I worried, for just a day. I was scared you would break her heart, but I stood by and let myself be blinded but your false sweetness. I let her fall in love so deeply in love with you and forgot my worry.” She moved forward so fast Adrien could barely see her, grabbing his tie and pulling him forward. “Do you know why?” She asked in a dangerous whisper.

Adrien swallowed nervously, staring down at her. “Why?”

She let him go and moved back a step, hands coming up and wrapping around herself as if to keep her rage in. “I love Marinette more than anything in this world, I will choose her over everyone else, I will choose her happiness and safety over everything. And being in love with you made her happy, so I let her, even though I knew you would break her heart from that very first day.”

Adrien shook his head in disbelief. “I-”

“Marinette is the best thing in our lives! She is the kindest, most considerate, most loving person you will  _ever_   _meet_! So never forget you have had the best wife and then you  _BROKE HER HEART_.” Alya let go his tie, pushing him until his back was pushed against the glass windows, her arm beneath his throat, not enough to choke, but to at least hurt.

“Congratulations!” Alya yelled, shoving her face into his, eyes burning dangerously. “You had the chance to be with the best person on this earth, and you broke her!” She moved back, and he fell forward, clutching his throat. “You lost your chance with her, so never lose sight of the fact that any sacrifices you make, anything you try, will never make up for what did before. You could do anything and everything, but it will  _never_  be enough.”

Adrien tried to speak; eyes wide. “But I-”

“I want you to know this is not the end,” Alya told him softly, but it was a mask because she was still  _burning_  up inside with the need to make him hurt.  “I will personally make sure that everything you ever loved is taken away from you. No one will trust you again.  _You will lose everything._  For every tear Marinette will shed because of this, I punish you.”

He flinched back, and she knew he was taking her seriously. He had no reason to doubt her. It was  _Marinette_. No one survived hurting her, not when Alya was involved.

She turned away from him and walked to the door, then spinning around to glare at him.  “I hope that you know what you’ve done,” She snarled. “We will never forgive you. Don’t ever think we will ever let you back into our lives and trust you again. You broke that, I hope you’re happy now. I hope you’re finally happy now that you’ve hurt everyone who loved you forever. I hope you’re proud.” She turned around, but this was not enough, it would never be enough to show him how badly he had messed up.

“ _You are alone,_ ” She snarled, and then she left, leaving Adrien in his office.


	8. The Broken-Hearted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback within a flashback, and some Felix angst. Based on Satisfied, and whoever guesses where I got inspiration for Felix's speech gets um, my praise?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dudes, this took a while, and no, I'm not gonna apologise, but I hope you all enjoy! Also, please check out Felix Month!!!

 (Three years ago)

* * *

 

Felix watched impassively as Alya stood, grinning and flushed, her glass raised in the middle of the room. It was beautiful, decorated in red and white, the tables filled with friends and family of the newlywed couple.

“Alright, so we _all_ know I’m Mari’s best friend,” she announced to the wedding party. That drew a few chuckles and Alya smiled. “But I am also sharing the position of Maid of Honour with the—” she wrinkled her nose in mock disgust “—other woman, Felix.”

There were hoots of laughter and Felix rolled his eyes, gesturing for Alya to hurry up.

The woman smirked and continued, “Who, unfortunately, has been given the honour of having the first toast. Thanks, Mari.”

“He asked first,” the new bride laughed from beside Felix, a vision of beauty. He could barely look at her, dressed in white, her hair braided with red flowers; _married_.

“Excuses, excuses.” Alya waved her hand. “In any case, I demanded to come up here first and introduce—AKA mock—him first, so everyone, give it up for the Man of Honour, brother of the groom, and _second-_ best friend of the bride, Felix Agreste!”

There was a round of applause and Felix stood, buttoning his suit jacket and nodding to Alya as she came to sit down at the table of honour, her eyes meeting his with some hidden emotion.

He didn’t have time to decipher it. He was trying to remember to breathe, steeling his nerves, pushing the pain in his gut to the back of his mind. Felix studiously avoided Marinette’s eyes as she looked up at him, playing it off as fiddling with his cards. If he looked at her he knew he would fall even deeper into the hole in his chest.

Glancing once at Alya, he saw her face filled with trust and support. He closed his eyes, put away his cards, and took a deep breath.

“Before I begin my speech, I wish to propose a toast,” he said. Picking up his glass, he raised it to the bashful Adrien. “To the groom.”

“To the groom!” Came the smiling reply of the guests.

He turned to Marinette, who was smiling wide at him, not seeming to mind he couldn’t meet her gaze. “To the bride.”

“To the bride!”

He met Adrien’s eyes. “From your brother, and best friend, I swear to always be by your sides, supporting you both.” _Loving her._

“To your marriage, I toast,” he announced, “and to the hope that you shall both love, cherish, and protect the other.” He closed his eyes. “May you always be happy.”

_Rewind._

* * *

 

He would always remember the day they met, two different worlds crashing into each other by coincidence and chance.

He had been forced by mother to go to public school, despite his protests. He had no wish to spend his days locked away with other children miles behind him in learning and maturity.

 _Adrien!_ He had tried, _Let Adrien go. He’s been begging to for ages!_ But Adrien was a year younger than him, and still recovering from a horrible illness he picked up in Tibet.

Felix was put into school.

He was placed in a class full of immature, self-absorbed children, miles behind him in learning. He decided he would have nothing to do with them the moment he stepped through the door.

Many approached him, attempting to make friends, but Felix drove them away, annoyed and inconvenienced. They soon got the message, and he was left alone.

Except for one girl with the darkest hair and the brightest eyes he had ever seen.

She offered out her hand, smiling wide. He had thought her only a fool, not suspecting he would find himself friends with her in a few months.

“Hello!” she said, smiling down at him.

“I don’t care,” he replied, and went back to his book.

He felt rather than saw her deflate and trusted her to leave on her own. She didn’t strike him as persistent, as some of the other ones had been.

Except she tried again.

“You look like someone who doesn’t like being interrupted while reading.”

“Pardon?” he said, blinking at her. It was an unexpected remark. He supposed she would try again, or leave, or throw a tantrum as Bourgeois did when he refused to sit with her.

“I don’t like being interrupted either,” the girl said. “So I can understand you’re upset. I’ll leave you to it.” She stuck out her hand again. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Felix blinked again before returning to his book. “Felix Agreste.”

She dropped her unshaken hand but smiled and half turned. “Bye Felix, see you in class.”

He stared after her as she left the library.

“Goodbye?” he replied, more of a question than an answer.

* * *

 

Their friendship came slowly. Marinette was not pushy, nor did she take liberties. He appreciated that, and it made him seek her out all the more.

 She was just… _there._ In any way he chose. As someone to sit with, as someone to talk to, as someone to trade snide comments with. She did not expect anything more than kindness and company. But he thought it was only fair he returned whatever he received and found himself enjoying her company more and more.

They became a pair, though if you asked him how, he wouldn’t be able to tell you.

Felix found himself being drawn into her world of laughter and light, so different from the house he had been raised in. He began to look for more reasons to join her after school. She invited him to her house, to ground hangouts, being disappointed when he declined, but always understanding.

It was… refreshing. She cared for him, believed in him, understood him.

“Can you _believe_ Chloe?” Marinette complained as they walked between classes, completely absorbed in her anger over the mayor’s daughter. He had to pick his pace up just a little to keep up with her.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Felix replied, gently steering her away from a pillar she would have smacked her face into otherwise. “You’ve known her nearly as long as I have, surely you’re used to it by now.”

She shook her head, her hands rapidly gesturing. “Still, she’s such a spoiled brat.” Marinette’s face scrunched into one of disgust before smoothing out.

“Anyway, you’re coming over after school, right? Your father hasn’t changed his mind last minute?” she asked, only her pursed lips giving away her anxiety.

Felix nodded, smiling a little. He had to hound father and mother for weeks, but he had managed to secure permission to skip dinner with them and share it with the Dupain Chengs.

Marinette paused, looking up at him. “Really?” Her voice was breathless, excited.

“Really,” he confirmed.

Her face split into a wide grin. She danced around a bit before grabbing his shoulders and jumping up and down ecstatically. “This is going to be awesome! I promise you’re going to love maman’s cooking.” She stopped jumping, but didn’t let go of his shoulders, just smiled up at him. “Finally, my parents have been dying to feed you something other than lunch. My mother still thinks you’re way too thin to be healthy.”

Felix just rolled his eyes. “Your mother would adopt me if she thought it would get me to eat more.”

“They want to adopt you anyway,” Marinette said nonchalantly. “They love you; we all do.”

He cleared his throat, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. He hadn’t been expecting that. “Thanks,” he said awkwardly. No other words came to him in the rush of his joy.

She just smiled and dropped her hands from his shoulders.

* * *

 

Marinette was different from anyone he had ever met.

He had grown up knowing people would use him for their own gain, but she never did, and he had let go of some of his uncertainty. She made it clear the only she thing wanted from their friendship was just that, friendship. Love and support. Companionship. Felix was happy to oblige, once he got over his worry.

When he learned she wanted to be a designer, it came back, strangling his throat as he wondered if this had all been a ruse, designed to draw him in so she could just further herself. Yet the months passed, and she asked for nothing.

He asked, one day, when he felt surer about her and their friendship. They were in her room, on the chaise, her feet in his lap, books in their hands.

Felix put down his book, staring at his hands. His suspicions had been belayed, but he knew that they would haunt him until he asked. He had put it off as long as he could, but he couldn’t—he couldn’t live with such uncertainty anymore.

“Marinette,” he said softly.

The girl looked up from her book, her tone pleasant. “Yes?”

“Are you…” the words tasted fat and unsteady on his tongue, like they could tear down everything he had built with her. He looked into her bluebell eyes. “Are you… using me?”

You could have heard a pin drop in her room, the two of them staring at each other from opposite sides of the chaise.

She met his eyes head on, looking hurt and confused. “For what?”

He didn’t answer, already ashamed. He bowed his head, wishing he could take it back. How could he have been so stupid as to insult her like this?

She removed her feet from his lap, curling them under herself as she watched him. “Felix, please tell me.”

That was what broke him. Her small, surprised, betrayed voice.

“For…” he swallowed the dryness in his throat. “Use me to make a name for yourself, to—to further yourself in the fashion world.”

He kept his eyes on the chaise, not wanting to see the look of hurt on her face. _Idiot,_ he snarled to himself, _you’re ruined your friendship, you’ve lost her._

There was silence for a moment before he heard Marinette move, until she was kneeling in front of him on the chaise, one hand face up before him.

“Felix,” she said softly. It was a small relief she wasn’t crying.

“Have I ever done anything to make you feel that way?” she asked, tone gentle. He shook his head fervently. She had been nothing but amazing to him, it was only the poison of his father that had led him to doubt.

Marinette remained composed, “Can you tell me what would make you think I was?”

Felix took just an instant to admire how she was not demanding him to explain _why_ but asking _how;_ she understood that he feared being used, of every relationship being fake. He slowly took her outstretched hand, rubbing a thumb over the back, more to calm himself than anything else.

“My… father,” he said finally, peeking up at her face. “He always warned me of liars and snakes, and when I met you, when I came here, I was worried… I thought you were too good to be true.” He mumbled the last part.

Her expression became touched and empathetic. “Oh, Felix.” Her voice was hushed. She guided him to sit up straight, holding his hand in between them.

“I will never use you, Felix, not for my own gain or others. You mean too much to me to break the trust and friendship you have given me. I care for you too much to do that to you,” she swore, her blue eyes wide and clear.

He looked at their joined hands.

“I believe you.”

* * *

 

Marinette became his person. His start, his beginning, his morning star. She took him from the empty world he was born into and showed him her colourful, love filled one.

It’s a wonder that it took him eight months to realise he was in love with her.

They were in the classroom, packing up their things slowly, chatting idly as they did. Sunshine poured through the windows, lighting up her dark hair. Felix found himself entranced by it, the way it played against her pale skin and made her eyes glow like heavenly light.

 _Like magic,_ he thought, entrapped by her.

“Felix? Felix!” Her voice snapped him out of his pondering, and he zoned back in.

“Yes?” he asked, clearing his throat.

Marinette gave him a once over but didn’t comment. “Are you coming over for lunch?”

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He felt heat working its way up his neck. Did he have a fever? Was he coming down with something?

Marinette walked over to the door, pausing there, her bag slung over one shoulder, an eyebrow raised in mirth. “You just going to stand there?”

And that was when it struck him—he wanted to go with her. He wanted to stay with her. He—he liked her. In a romantic sense.

Felix blinked, startled at his realisation.

 _Dear gods,_ he thought with growing horror, _I’m infatuated with my best friend._

He refused to consider love. It wasn’t love it was just—what conclusion could he come to other than love? It was Marinette, anything was possible, half the school adored her. He was just another stricken soul.

She stepped back to him, looking concerned. “Felix, you’re looking a little red.”

“I’m fine,” he stumbled out. He coughed into his hand. “A mild fever. I’ll be fine.”

Marinette’s brow remained furrowed, but she nodded. She held out a hand. “Come on,” she said, eyes sparkling, “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” he replied, taking her hand, helpless to stop himself. He was entrapped, entranced, enchanted.

* * *

 

Felix did his best to ignore the feelings the only grew every day. She was his best friend; how could he risk their friendship over something as pitiful as a crush? But the feelings did not fade, and he refused to acknowledge them more than necessary.

Life went on, Felix told himself that it was nothing more than a passing infatuation, but a deeper part of him whispered about confessing, about love.

But he ignored it, and life went on. He shared his family problems a little more openly with Marinette: Cruel father, busy mother, passive brother. Maybe it was because they were growing closer every day, or maybe because of the feelings he held close to his chest.

She had wrinkled her nose up by the time he had finished talking about Adrien, about how he rarely took the aggressive route, how he followed the high road, how he was blind to some things. Felix did not tell her how Adrien left others to suffer while he kept himself in father’s good graces.

“He sounds… passive,” she said delicately.

Felix sighed. “He’s a child. He only thinks of himself and whoever he cares for immensely. He would turn the world over for very few.”

She tilted her head. “Does that include you?”

He pursed his lips. “I’m afraid I don’t know. Father tends to favour me more, and it has led to some… resentment.”

She grabbed his hand, her expression steady. “If he won’t turn the world over for you, I will,” she declared.

A lump formed in his throat. “Likewise, my dear,” he croaked out, “likewise.”

* * *

 

The day his mother died came suddenly, bringing storm clouds.

Felix had known mother was ill, she had been growing weaker, her breath shorter. Father had explained it was something likely picked up from a recent trip she had taken.

But it was still a numbing shock when he woke up to find Adrien sobbing, father with his head in his hands, and Natalie looking grey.

There was no need to ask what happened, their faces betrayed it all.

He never asked who took the body away, only saw a glimpse of a long, black bag on a stretcher being carried outside.

He went cold. Everything after that moment was like a dream, or a harsh, cold reality. He went through the movements; squeeze his eyes shut, steady his breathing, push the pain and the hurt and grief to the back of his mind, and go to hold Adrien, to offer the comfort Gabriel withheld and Natalie was hesitant to offer.

He had held his brother, cold to his core, empty of anything but raw ache, and a piece of himself fell away.

* * *

 

Felix waited until later, after the talk with Natalie, after father’s cold, distant explanation, after comforting Adrien and dealing with—what happened before he went to his room.

There he cried, sobbing until he thought his heart was gone.

But nothing changed, and his mother remained dead. 

* * *

 

The funeral was beautiful and empty of anything mother would have wanted.

Father had held him and Adrien in lock like grips on their shoulders. The suit he wore already choked him, the grip on his father was just another chain around him.

He laid a rose on his mother’s casket and stepped away, hands cold and heart numb.

* * *

He went dark. That was what Marinette told him when the mourning passed, and he could see the world again.

“The only way I could explain it,” she said softly, one hand holding his, the other around his shoulders. “Your light went out… I was scared I lost you.”

“You could never lose me Marinette,” he told her, words mumbled into her shoulder. She smiled and leaned her cheek against his head, and they stayed there, a pair.

* * *

 

The day Adrien arrived came with much dreading on Felix’s part. His brother had to beg and plead, and even then, he decided to sneak out and go when father redrew his permission at the last minute.

Felix had watched, pained, as his brother walked away from the old man he helped up and back to the limo.

“I’m sorry,” Felix had whispered to the air. Marinette soon came to join him, eyes following the limo as it drove away.

* * *

The next day, when Adrien finally came to class, Felix watched as he blundered his way through his introduction with Marinette, who was more testy than usual. Felix chalked it up to the recent Stoneheart attack when she refused to hear Adrien’s excuses for the gum.

“You were wrong,” Marinette declared to Felix, twisting in her seat to look up at him. She had decided to sit with Alya, her new friend, for this class.

“Oh?” He replied, settling into the seat behind her.

Marinette glared over at Adrien. “He’s not just passive, he’s a prick.”

Felix would not lie, it felt nice for someone to actually see the faults of his brother for once, not his sweetness. He hoped it would force Adrien to grow.

* * *

Felix found Marinette standing in the rain, staring up at Adrien as he apologised and explained what happened.

He felt pride, watching as his brother made a step forward by revealing Chloe’s part in the incident. Perhaps this year he would learn to not protect her from punishment.

Then the umbrella closed over Marinette, and lightning flashed, and Adrien left.

Felix walked over to his friend, with the umbrella clutched in her hand, staring after his brother.

“Hey,” he said, smiling softly.

“Hey,” she said dazedly. He peered at her face, and terror struck as he realised that her expression was-

_Helpless._

She smiled as Adrien waved to them, and it was lovestruck, pure and simple.

And that was when Felix realised that she had fallen for his brother.

He realised three things in the span of a moment.

_One:_

Father would never approve of his relationship with Marinette. Maybe when she was well known in the fashion world, but now, when she was less than a blip on his radar, he had no chance.

Adrien was free to date her as the youngest, it would be good publicity, but not for Felix, never for him.

_Two:_

He was the oldest, and had the most expectations upon him, this he knew for a fact. Gabriel Agreste would never allow his heir to date a nobody.

The gossip in Paris was insidious, and would eventually get back to father, so there was no chance of hiding it. And Gabriel could destroy her chances of ever being a designer if he thought she was after Felix for his money and status.

_Three:_

Felix loved Marinette completely and utterly, and he knew her. As surely as he knew the colour of her eyes. She was kind, and compassionate, and would rather break herself than hurt another.

If he told her he loved her, she would hurt, because he was her friend, but she didn’t love him back. And he could not bear to cause her pain, even if it meant watching her love Adrien, who would doubtless hurt her one day.

He took a breath.

“He apologised?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes,” she whispered, then turned to him, her cheeks red and her eyes wide. “I-I think-I… I need to go home.”

He smiled softly, putting one hand over hers on the umbrella.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

_I love you._

* * *

 “ _To the groom.”_

_“To the groom!”_

_“To the bride.”_

_“To the bride!”_

_“From your brother, and best friend, I swear to always be by your sides, supporting you both._

_“To your marriage, I toast, and to the hope that you shall both love, cherish, and protect the other. May you always be happy.”_  

* * *

 

“I want to speak about Marinette,” Felix said. Dozens of eager, ignorant faces smiled back at him.

 _I must do this,_ he reminded himself, pulling his thoughts away from a past he could not change.

“I met her when I was thirteen. I had been home-schooled with Adrien for my entire life beforehand.” Gabriel looked down at his plate. Felix spared a glare at him.

“I will admit, I was… cruel, cold, and bitter. I had no interests in making friends. I believed everyone was below my notice, too dull for my time. I rebutted any attempt of friendship my classmates tried”

Nino coughed pointedly into his fist. Felix ignored him.

“But Marinette, seeing all this, decided that it didn’t matter. She…” he tried to find his words, forgetting everything he had written down so carefully to hide his feelings. How could anything he wrote capture her brilliance?

“She tried,” he murmured. “She was kind, and inclusive, and stubborn and brash. She saw me and decided to be my friend, whether I wanted to be or not.” There was a smattering of laughs. “I will admit I was cruel to her. I pushed her away. But Marinette, in her never-ending generosity and compassion, did not give up on me.”

Felix reminded himself to keep the mask up, to keep up the appearance as a happy brother and platonic best friend. Meeting the gazes of the guests and his own friends, he kept his heart hidden even as he felt it breaking.

“I am a cold, heartless bastard as many would say—have said.”

Chloe mumbled something from another table, he took a moment to glare at her. “But regardless, Marinette Dupain-Cheng has changed me. As sure as the sea weathers and erodes rock and land, she has worn me down, using her—at times annoying—enthusiasm and optimism for the world.”

There was a sniffle beside him, but Felix was too caught up in the speech. “Only she, with her pure, gentle kindness and light, could accomplish such a feat.”

The faces staring out at him where touched, the words warm in his throat, but he fell into temptation and looked to Marinette.

Her blue eyes were shining with tears, a hand pressed to her mouth, looking at him like nothing else mattered.

“Marinette,” he said to her, his voice close to breaking. “I will never understand what made you try to be my friend. I can come to no conclusion of what you saw in a stupid, selfish teenage boy. But I will always be grateful that you took a chance on me. I never expected to have a friend, certainly not one as kind, honest, and true as you. Everyone in this room is blessed to be loved by you, and none more than Adrien.” Felix looked to his brother only for an instant, unable to bear his lovesick smile. _Why couldn’t it be me?_

“My dearest friend,” he murmured, heart in his throat. “I am stupid, foolish man, my only salvation your warmth and friendship, that I swear to treasure for all my years. So I wish to tell you, on this day, you sit between your husband and the one you saved. In all likelihood, the ones who love you most in this life.” Pain lanced through his chest as he stared into Marinette’s eyes; all his love for her crying out.

He breathed in deeply, smiling softly. “I swear to you, my friend, that I speak for myself and Adrien when I say that we will do everything in our power to never disappoint you, and we will spend the rest of our lifetimes proving it to you.”

_Please, just let me stay in your life. That’s all I ask._

There was a roar of applause. Marinette lunged forward, throwing her arms around his neck as she cried.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Anything for you,” he told her, one hand on her head, his eyes straight ahead, so no one would see his tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, pain. I'm not sure whether or not this lives up to the legacy of Satisifed


	9. In the Miracle Box (Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude with Tikki and Plagg, set before.... somewhere????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaddup, this is shorter than usual, but I've been having trouble nailing this chapter out. Turns out writing millennia-old all-powerful beings is harder than it sounds.  
> Also some personal stuff has been going on lately which is annoying. One of my friends is dealing with an asshole, and family drama is a big thing at the moment apparently.  
> The good news? I had my birthday, preformed in front of two hundred people three nights in a row, finished a new show, started a new felinette idea (and oh boy is it a doozy) and I am currently on top of all my homework.  
> Also, props to y'all fic writers and fic readers for the Hugo Award, we're fucking amazing. And to my fic writers: Happy Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day!! You guys are awesome!!  
> Also, shout out to Nottie for encouraging me, listening to me complain, and forcing me to sleep a proper amount. Love you <3  
> Enough of my rambling, onto this nice little chap!

**In the Miracle Box**

 

Being dormant, being in the miracle box, is normally warm; a sweet, safe feeling. It feels like home.

Tikki, though she misses her dear little Marinette, enjoys resting after all the time she spent being run ragged. After the horror of Hawkmoth, being surrounded by her family is peaceful, even as she eagerly waits for the day when Emma and Hugo are old enough for her to return.

She would be the first to admit, it hurt her heart when she realised that when Emma started speaking, it was no longer safe for her and Plagg to stay active. Emma had been tittering carelessly in that childish way to a stranger about the “flying bug and cat mama and papa love so much, mama calls them kwamas”. Marinette had barely managed to avoid an identity reveal. After much discussion, the four of them decided that the two would join the other kwamis for a time, and Tikki was willing to wait.

After all, Tikki saw them on special occasions, such as birthdays and holidays and any excuse Marinette could justify.  She had been there, waiting patiently to see Hugo for the first time. She and Plagg had cried and then cried again when they had to go dormant again a week later.

There was nothing left to do but wait, so she basked in the warmth of safety, day after day until time began to fade, happy and carefree, with Plagg by her side, as it was meant to be. There was peace.

Until she felt a chill.

She had been dozing, dreaming of the days when Marinette was younger, of the better times, before boys and babies and businesses. She had been happy, until a feeling of cold wakes her up, shocking her awake. It settles over her, freezing and cutting through her physical form.

In the heart of the miracle box, she is chilled to the core. It feels like the precursor to something, a warning of sorts.

It gets worse, creeping closer and closer to painful, until it disappears altogether, and another sensation overtakes her.

Tikki gasps, pressing a hand to her chest. There is a ghost of a feeling—as if something is breaking.

Something like a heart.

“What?” she murmurs, and Fluff looks up from beside her, eyes wide in realisation.

“Today, today, today,” Fluff says. “Hearts and crackers and punches. Today, today, today.”

In all their existence, Fluff’s knowledge of the future has rarely scared Tikki. But now, when she feels a glimmer of Marinette amidst the pain, fear takes hold.

Fluff keeps muttering. “Cats in the cradle, cradles from the closet—new old new old new old, Lady Luck loves unluckily.” Fluff fixed Tikki with a wide eyes stare. “Black bad cats, their time ran out, yesterday comes today, time, time, time, time…” Fluff looked off somewhere to the distance, voice low and rapid.

Concerned, Tikki starts, “Fluff, what are you—”

She’s cut off when she feels a stab of pain through her bond with Marinette, cutting off her voice. It _burned,_ like the fire that could never harm her, like the freezer burn she could never have.

  It hurt, and it came from Marinette.

Cautiously, Tikki opened the bond, worry driving her to just take a peek, to just calm her mind—

Within a second, she sees a thousand images: A TV screen, Adrien in front of a crowd of microphones. Little Emma, sitting amongst pillows, confused. Hugo, crawling across a bed, expression upset. A pale hand throwing a wedding ring, then scrambling to pick it up.

Then less recent images, across months and years that she had missed. Of weeks ticked off on a calendar, to a distant day when Adrien would return home. Of a clock face late at night when he slips in. Of his eyes, passing over her at a party. Of a thousand warning signs, that she had missed, that _they_ had missed.

The wholes tory comes out, in brutally efficient flashes, giving her all the information she needed.

‘ _He has betrayed me.’_ Marinette’s thoughts pass through the bond and then sink into Tikki like weights.  

At last, Marinette’s pain passes from Tikki, and her own emotions are left, clear and concise and ancient.

For the first time in years, Tikki feels rage, and the aching, horrible pain of knowing her chosen has been betrayed. Worse than Lila’s reign, worse than a childhood betrayal. This was criminal.

She screams, and it shakes the miracle box, drawing eyes to her, but she can’t find it in herself to care.

Marinette was _hurting,_ and Tikki wasn’t there to help her. She was trapped, far away from her chosen and the one who betrayed her.  

“ _Time to go,_ ” Fluff whispers, then flies off, where Sass is watching warily.

Plagg zips over to her, concern in his eyes. The others float closer nervously. Fluff stays back, muttering and fidgeting.

“Sugar cube?” Plagg says, acid eyes taking her in warily. “What happened?”

 _Ignorance,_ Tikki thinks, _he allowed this._

“What happened?” She hisses, glaring with all her anger. “What happened is that Marinette has been betrayed.”

There are gasps from the assembled kwamis. _Lady Luck? Who would dare harm the Ladybug?_

“Who?” Plagg asks, but there is a weariness in him that tells her he must suspect.

She grounds out his name, spitting it at Plagg. “Adrien.”

 Plagg presses a paw to his chest, and his face twists. She knows that he is reaching through the bond, seeking out what Adrien has done.

 He gasps, and tears well up in his eyes. Her other half looks betrayed, hurt, enraged and broken all at once.

“How could he—I knew he was careless but this—" Plagg closed his eyes firmly. “I should have known.”

“Yes,” she snaps. “You should have. He was _your_ chosen, _your_ responsibility, and now—” she sobs, voice breaking.

“Tikki,” Wayzz tries, but she can’t hear over her pain.

“Marinette is broken,” she cries, crying it out for all to hear. “She is broken, and it is _his_ fault, he has hurt her. Betrayed by her husband, but her _partner_.”

“The Black Cat, the Cat destroyed the Ladybug, ding ring wedding bells, kittens and bugs and lies and hugs,” Fluff recites, confirming Tikki’s words.

The other kwamis murmur, and then Wayzz starts herding them away from her and Plagg, and they float to some distant part of the miracle box.

She didn’t care, she didn’t _care,_ not when her little bug was in pain.

She turns to shove Plagg. “This is your fault!”

He curls in on himself. “I—I didn’t—”

“You let him get away with _everything!_ He made so many mistakes, but you never said anything, and I—I _allowed it._ ” Tikki screws her eyes up, all the noise in her head, all the pain from Marinette was so _loud._ She couldn’t think clearly through all the red. “Every time he made a mistake, you did _nothing,_ and now he has hurt Marinette. _Marinette,_ who has been with him through everything. He _BETRAYED HER_.”

“I’M SORRY,” Plagg yells, tears falling, his voice hoarse. “I’M SORRY I HURT MARINETTE, I’M SORRY I LET HIM BECOME THIS, AND I’M SORRY I—” he chokes up.

He hangs his head, voice small.

“I’m sorry I destroy everything.”

Abruptly, she remembers, without thought or warning, all the times he cried after one of his chosens were killed.

She remembers the aftermath of all the times he was taken like Nooroo and used for evil.

She remembers when he came to her, crying, seeing the death and destruction he had caused, _his_ powers, _his_ fault.

She remembers all the chosens he lost, all the ones corrupted, all the ones who turned bitter and evil and cruel.

She remembers a night, a million or so years ago, when he told her just how much he despised himself, how he broke everything he loved and touched.

She also remembers the pride in his voice when he spoke of Adrien, but also the way his face crumbled when the boy was particularly oblivious. She remembers how he loved his chosen and realises that maybe Plagg loved Adrien enough to let himself be blinded.

Her anger cools, and she feels guilt. Plagg was hurting too. Adrien was his kit, Plagg saw him grow and change, and to see one you loved to hurt another so dear—Tikki knew first hand that it hurt. Her past Ladybugs had not been immune to mistakes, and Tikki—she needed to remember Plagg wasn’t the one at fault.

 _Adrien_ was. Plagg and Tikki and Fu may not have taught him to behave like a proper superhero, but he had the others to look for as examples, and he _should_ have _known_ not to cheat.

He _did_ know, and he did it anyway.

Plagg and Marinette were both hurting, betrayed and lied to and blinded by one the loved. And yes, Plagg had a hand in the blame, but no more than Nino and Chloe and all the others. They all had a hand in it, after seeing his faults and brushing over them, and they all had to realise that as much as they were guilty of ignorance, Adrien was the real villain in all of this.

“This… this is my fault too,” she admits, and Plagg looks up at her through teary eyes. “I encouraged Marinette to pursue him, even though I knew the more—questionable things he did. I’m as much at fault as you are.”

“He—” Plagg chokes up, eyes big and wide. “He seemed so _kind_. Where did I—what did I do?”

“Oh, Plagg,” she says softly, “you didn’t go wrong. He did.”

She hugs him, wrapping every part of her energy around his body, doing her best to say without saying she didn’t blame him, she didn’t hate him. He melts into her, and she feels his ache like a physical thing.

As she holds her other half, Marinette’s thoughts well up, and Tikki allows them in, shutting her eyes tight as she accepts that her chosen and her partner were in pain.

“ _Sixteen months… an affair…but I thought he—he said he loved me! Oh god oh god… the children… he said in loved me, how could he do this?!_

_I thought he loved me.”_

Marinette’s thoughts are heartbroken, helpless.

Plagg’s are no easier, wild and twisting and pained.

“I will never forgive him,” Tikki vows quietly, just loud enough for Plagg to hear.

“I know,” he replies, twisting his eyes away from her.

 _I won’t either, though it hurts,_ hangs unsaid between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this was worth the *checks notes* month-long wait. Where is this story going? No fucking clue, I've got the bare bones and a whole lot of conflicting plot ideas. But all I know is that next up, in order, we have: The Aftermath of Felix's chapter, everybody drinking some Respect Marinette Juice™ and a few very angry parents. What fun!

**Author's Note:**

> Taken from my Tumblr: https://fandom-queenliness.tumblr.com/  
> Can be found in My Writing page.


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